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NO FRIEND LIKE A SISTER 



NO FRIEND LIKE 
A SISTER 





^ BY. 


ROSA NOUCHETTE CAREY 


‘NELLIE’S MEMORIES, 


L 

AUTHOR OF 

’ ‘ THE HOUSEHOLD OF PETER,’ ETC. 


For there is no friend like a sister 
In calm or stormy weather ; 

To cheer one on the tedious way. 

To fetch one if one goes astray. 

To lift one if one totters down, 

To strengthen whilst one stands. 

Christina Rossetti. 




PHILADELPHIA 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

1906 


I fLwis igw w iWXW l 

\ SEP lb i306 





Copyright, 1906, by J. B. Lippincott Company 
All rights reserved 


€o <i^ne SDeat; !3i^emor{i 




CONTENTS 


CHAP. page 

1 St. Monica^s Lodge i 

2 Sister Gresham lo 

3 The Last Straw 19 

4 A Divided Household 28 

5 Bride 37 

6 “ No Friend like a Sister " 45 

7 An Evening at Grove House S3 

8 WiLDCROFT ■ 61 

9 “Two Lame Dogs " 69 

10 Hugh Milner 78 

11 “I have come to see You, Janet 86 

12 A Transformation Scene 95 

13 “He is no Evangelist" 103 

14 Pax 1 12 

15 In Pastures New 120 

16 Agnes 128 

17 The Vicar of Tylcote 137 

18 Crow Farm 144 

19 “The Chimney-Corner" 153 

20 “A Flashing Search -Light " 161 

21 In Leafy June 170 


No Friend Like a Sister 


CHAP. page 

22 “ NicEj Well-conducted Young People 178 

23 Gad's Barn 187 

24 '‘You DO NOT KNOW MoTHER " I96 

25 "There is always a Way" 204 

26 Hammond Keith 212 

27 " I INSIST ON KNOWING THE TrUTH " 220 

28 "Is THIS YOUR Last Word, Mother?" 228 

29 "A Man has Broad Shoulders" 237 

30 "Where there's a Will" 246 

31 Cousin Beth 254 

32 "Why not count Your Blessings?" 263 

33 The Lavington Woods 270 

34 "An Arrow at a Venture" 277 

35 "I UNDERSTAND YoU PERFECTLY" 285 

36 " One gets used to Everything " 292 

37 Elinor meets some Old Friends 300 

38 Gale Warburton's Wooing 307 

39 The Unexpected happens 3^4 

40 "The Call has come" 322 

41 Another Surprise 33 1 

42 Love the Fulfiller 340 

43 Picking up Threads and Finis 34^ 


No Friend Like a Sister 


¥¥¥ 

I 

St. Monica’s Lodge 


Stately is Service accepted, but lovelier Service rendered. — 
Clough. 

What though our work^ 

Be fashioned in despite of their ill-service, 

Be crippled every way? ’Twere little praise 
Did full resources wait on our good-will 
At every turn. Browning. 

When St. Monica’s Nursing Home was first opened 
to the public, it excited a good deal of curiosity, and not 
a little criticism amongst the inhabitants of Maida Vale. 

From the first it was understood that it was run on 
unusual lines, and that certain daring innovations had 
been effected. And as St. Monica’s Lodge was also a 
Home for nurses, sundry old-fashioned conservatives 
put down their foot in a marked and truculent manner, 
and declared that in their opinion Miss Gresham per- 
mitted herself too much scope, and that such radical 
changes introduced into a Nursing Home would in the 
end lead to complete disorganisation. 

To all such comments Miss Gresham turned a deaf 
ear. She was not a thin-skinned person, and she bore 
her neighbours’ disapprobation with good-natured toler- 
ance, and much secret amusement. She knew that to 
some minds originality was a sin of the first magnitude. 

If I would only keep in the old ruts,” she said once to 
a great friend of hers, the matron of Guy’s Hospital, 
where she had trained as a nurse, — ‘‘ if I would only be 

I 




No Friend Like a Sister 


nice and groovy, my neighbours would hold out to me 
the right hand of fellowship, and I should achieve 
popularity/’ 

St. Monica’s Nursing Home had been opened two 
years previously, and it was on the occasion of Miss 
Holds worth’s first visit that Frances Gresham had made 
this speech. 

Miss Holdsworth had merely smiled at this remark; 
but being a woman of few words she had held her peace, 
and beyond an admiring comment or two she had fol- 
lowed Sister Gresham in silence through the various 
apartments, noting with a keen and practised eye the 
luxurious appointments of the rooms fitted for the 
patients; but she raised her finely marked eyebrows in 
rather a wondering manner when Frances showed her 
the cubicles for the nurses. 

Well, Edith,” she said a little impatiently, when the 
silence had become somewhat aggressive, do you not 
think my working bees have cosy cells ? ” 

Then Miss Holdsworth looked at her with an amused 
smile. I should not mind being one of your nurses, my 
dear. The question is, will all this pay? The house is 
a large one — but only two cubicles in this spacious 
room ! ” 

'' I can’t have my nurses crowded,” returned Frances 
in her quick, crisp manner ; the poor things work hard 
and they must have room to breathe.” 

Oh, they will not suffer for want of air,” replied her 
friend a little drily, for the cubicles were light and airy, 
and models of neatness and comfort. Each cubicle had 
its window, and beside the bed, chest of drawers, and 
washstand there was also room for an easy-chair and 
small writing-table and bookcase. But, my dear 
Frances, at this rate you cannot take in a sufficient 
number of nurses to make the concern profitable, — only 
six patients, and I suppose the same number of nurses ? ” 
You are quite right,” returned Frances, without 
counting the household staff I have only quarters for 
six. You will find the accommodation of the house 
nurses is equally comfortable. If you remember, Edith, 
I told you at Guy’s that St. Monica’s Nursing Home was 


St. Monica’s Lodge 


3 


to be a sort of pattern and object-lesson for other Homes. 
I prefer to take fewer patients and fewer nurses, and 
make it practically a Home/' 

Then a faint protesting shrug prefaced Miss Holds- 
worth's reply. You are a very complex person, Frances, 
I have often told you so. You are intensely practical; 
but there is an underlying vein of romance and softness 
in your nature that gets the mastery sometimes. Well," 
with a little break in her voice, ‘‘ it is a beautiful Home, 
and a grand work, and I wish it all success." And then 
the two women grasped hands in full understanding 
and sympathy. 

Sister Gresham worked with a good heart. From the 
first the Home was always full of patients, and she 
could have taken three times the number if she had had 
accommodation for them. Young nurses were almost 
piteous in their appeals to be taken in; for their very 
soul was sick with envy at the sight of the nurses' sitting- 
room, with its Chesterfield couch and deep easy-chairs 
and well-filled bookcase. Then there was the long shady 
garden that led to the house, and a certain corner hidden 
behind thick bushes where there were hammocks swing- 
ing. It is just the loveliest place in the world," as one 
of these outsiders remarked. 

Nurse Williams says the food is so good and well 
cooked, and plenty of vegetables and fruit. Sister 
Gresham never begrudges anything to her nurses, and 
they think no end of her. They say she has seven 
hundred a year of her own, and that she does not care 
whether she makes profits or not. I believe it covers its 
expenses, and that is about all ; she told Nurse Williams 
so. They all know that she is very anxious to start a 
Pension Fund for superannuated or sick nurses, whose 
health has broken down, and it is the general belief 
that every penny of profit goes towards that Fund." 

Sister Gresham's chief offence in her neighbours' eyes 
was the latitude she permitted her nurses in dress. The 
working dress at St. Monica’s was very suitable and 
becoming, and the nurses’ cap was pronounced charming, 
but the outdoor dress was left to the discretion of the 
wearers. A close, neat bonnet and long veil were recom- 


4 


No Friend Like a Sister 


mended and generally worn, but the cloak was only for 
winter use, and the St. Monica nurses had full permission 
to go out in corn-flower blue cambric dresses, and to 
carry sunshades and wear gloves. No tired night-nurse, 
pallid with want of sleep, had to take her daily constitu- 
tional, impeded and wearied by a heavy and unnecessary 
cloak. Sister Gresham was far too humane and up-to- 
date to impose these small official tyrannies. No wonder 
her nurses loved and appreciated her; and yet with all 
her indulgence Sister Gresham was a strict disciplinarian. 
No breach of rule was permitted. The first transgression 
was treated with mildness, but any repetition of the fault 
called for a stern reprimand on Sister’s part; the third 
ended in total defeat and disaster, for the offender was 
banished from St. Monica’s. 

I will keep no rebellious and disobedient members 
in my Home,” she would observe. You have had warn- 
ing, Nurse Chambers, and you have chosen to disregard 
my wishes and orders. I will pay you a full month, but 
I shall wish you to leave within the week.” Then did 
the unlucky culprit find herself, like a second Eve, outside 
the walls of her Paradise. 

After a time people grew less critical. The St. Monica 
nurses were found to be so reliable and satisfactory, and 
were in such request, that Sister Gresham had some diffi- 
culty in securing them needful rest ; and before the first 
year had passed she was revolving a scheme for taking 
the adjoining house, when the lease was up, and turning 
it into a Nurses’ Home. ‘‘ I must have a matron of 
course,” she said to Miss Holdsworth, and then she had 
looked meaningly at her friend, but the latter had shown 
no sign of taking the hint; nevertheless the seed had 
dropped into a dark corner of her mind, and might pos- 
sibly fructify in time. 

She was forty, and had been ten years in her present 
position, and of late her health had suffered a little from 
the strain of her office. The work at St. Monica’s 
Nursing Home would be comparatively light, and very 
congenial to her tastes ; there would be room for twenty 
nurses, or even more, if Frances transferred her present 
nurses to the adjoining premises. In that case St. Mon- 


St. Monica’s Lodge 


5 


ica’s Lodge would be wholly for paying patients and the 
nursing staff attached to the Home. 

It was not a bad idea/’ Edith Holdsworth said to 
herself ; '' and then it would be so delightful to work with 
Frances. Yes, perhaps in a year or two’s time, she 
would be willing to cut herself adrift from Guy’s.” 

There was no doubt that Frances Gresham was 
intensely happy in the work she had chosen for herself, 
although she had undertaken it at some cost and a good 
deal of pain. But she was not the one to shrink from 
any difficulty when she had once made up her mind that 
the path was a good one. There are always lions in 
the way,” she had said to herself ; ‘‘ and if one is to make 
progress there is the Slough of Despond to cross. I 
think the hardest part was leaving Elinor — dear old 
Nora. I wonder if she ever guessed how often I have 
cried myself to sleep in that dismal room at Guy’s? — at 
least it seemed dismal to me after my big room at the 
Boltons — just with the longing to be back with her again ; 
but then we all have to pick our way across these miry 
places in life. It was not exactly a blissful time, but I 
am glad I did it; at least I was free from Augusta. I 
think I hate most all the talk there has been about it. 
If people would only mind their own business. Who 
was it said, ‘ Defend me from my friends’ ? ” And 
Frances sighed in an oppressed way, for she knew well 
how freely her friends’ tongues were canvassing the 
matter. 

It had been a nine-days’ wonder in the neighbourhood 
of the Boltons when Frances Gresham first left her home 
and her sisters to be a probationer at Guy’s, with the 
view of opening a Nursing Home when she was duly 
qualified and had obtained her certificate. And though 
the Home at Maida Vale had been opened two years, 
the subject had not been wholly dropped. 

Frances’ ears would have burned, and she would have 
felt annoyed, and not a little indignant, if she could have 
overheard a conversation between two old friends one 
February afternoon. 

Lady Templeton was a very old friend of the Gresham 
family, and Frances and her sister Elinor were much 


6 


No Friend Like a Sister 


attached to her, and Mrs. Osborne was also a close 
acquaintance. She was a good-hearted, well-meaning 
little woman, but a great talker ; and Frances had more 
than once owned to her favourite sister Elinor that she 
always dreaded Emma Osborne’s tongue. Her bump 
of curiosity is far too well developed,” she would say; 
“ and her ‘ little member ’ is never under her control.” 
And Elinor had assented to this, for she and Frances 
thought alike on most subjects. 

Lady Templeton and her next-door neighbour had been 
having a morning’s shopping together, and were now 
enjoying a late luncheon at the former lady’s house. 
Lady Templeton was advanced in years, and was a soft- 
mannered, lovable old lady, with pretty white hair, and 
a complexion that any girl would have envied, it was so 
pink and clear. She invariably spoke a good word for 
everybody, but she had also a feminine weakness for 
discussing other folks’ business. And as the younger 
Gresham girls were special favourites she interested her- 
self a good deal in their movements, and she had just 
been observing rather plaintively that Elinor Gresham 
looked dull and out of spirits. 

I am afraid she still misses Frances,” she finished. 

‘‘ Of course she does,” replied Mrs. Osborne decidedly ; 

never were two sisters so absolutely devoted to each 
other. I was always very fond of Frances,” she con- 
tinued, ‘‘ she and Elinor were my bridesmaids as you 
know, but I cannot help feeling disappointed in her. It 
is all very well to say that she had a vocation for nursing, 
and that she and Augusta did not get on well together, 
but I think it was selfish of her to leave Elinor. I never 
felt so sorry for any one in my life as I did poor Nora 
when Frances first went to Guy’s.” 

Oh we were all sorry for her,” returned Lady Tem- 
pleton placidly, for we know how trying Augusta is ; 
but Frances talked to me about it. She said it was impos- 
sible for them to go on living in the way they led' their 
daily life ; that things were so bad that she and Augusta 
were hardly on speaking terms. ‘ What am I to do. Lady 
Templeton? ’ she said to me. ‘ If I contradict or contest 
her will, there is a stand-up fight between us, and my 


St. Monica’s Lodge 


7 


temper will not bear it. Nora’s disposition is milder, she 
is less pugnacious. It is really best for her that I should 
go. By and by, when I have that Nursing Home, she 
can leave Augusta and come to me.’ ” 

‘‘ Yes, and then Lyall made that unfortunate marriage, 
and there was poor Bride to complicate matters. Do 
you know. Lady Templeton, I am afraid, from all I can 
see, that Augusta leads that girl rather a poor life.” 

I am afraid so too,” returned Lady Templeton 
gravely. Augusta is not the sort of woman to under- 
stand her sister-in-law; but for Elinor’s affection, the 
poor thing would have a miserable existence. Poor dear 
Bride, what a mess she has made of her life! She has 
estranged her husband, and spoiled his happiness, and she 
must have a hard time with Augusta.” 

I never could understand that marriage,” returned 
Mrs. Osborne quickly. Lyall Gresham always seemed 
to me such a superior young man. I know Frances and 
Elinor thought him a perfect saint. In my opinion he 
was rather too much of a visionary. It was such a pity 
he refused the nice living the Bishop offered him to rush 
off to South Africa in that impulsive way, and just when 
he was going to be married.” 

Well, you see, the dear boy always had a hankering 
after missionary work; and when his friend’s health 
broke down, and he was obliged to come home, it was 
just like Lyall to offer to take his post for three years. 
He said the work would be good for him ; how could he 
know that Bride would refuse to accompany him ? ” 

“ No one could have guessed that she would behave 
so,” returned young Mrs. Osborne severely. Much as I 
dislike Augusta Gresham I think she has some grounds 
for her displeasure with Bride. In my opinion it was 
most unwifely conduct. Why did she marry Lyall if 
she did not love him well enough to cross the seas with 
him?” 

‘‘ Poor child,” observed Lady Templeton in a feeling 
voice, you must not be too hard on her, Emma. I 
think I blame Lyall more, he ought to have known that 
Bride’s nature was too peculiar to suit his. From the 
first they pulled different ways. Bride is artistic and 


8 


No Friend Like a Sister 


highly sensitive, and Lyall is exacting and rather arbi- 
trary, he is a little like Augusta in that. When Bride 
promised to marry him she thought he was going to 
take a living in London. She had a perfect horror of 
going to South Africa.'’ 

Perhaps so," returned Mrs. Osborne rather coldly, 
for young Mrs. Gresham was not a favourite of hers, 
but a woman is bound to follow her husband ' for 
better or for worse.' What do those words mean, my dear 
Lady Templeton? I don't want to be severe on any 
one, but I do think — and Robert quite agrees with me 
— that Bride ought to be ashamed of herself." 

I don't like to hear you say that, Emma," returned 
her friend mildly ; as I said before, I am far more 
inclined to blame Lyall. He knew, oh, he knew well, 
that Bride was not really in love with him; that she 
was fascinated, and carried away by his devotion to her. 
I never saw a man more in love, he gave her no peace, 
he just dominated her; girls make these mistakes some- 
times, and Bride was not twenty. I know she has told 
Elinor lately that she was too much afraid of him to say 
no; that more than once, if she had dared, she would 
have broken off her engagement, but he gave her no 
opportunity." 

She certainly did not look happy on her wedding- 
day." 

‘‘ That is what we all said ; but I never saw a more 
blissful bridegrmm. Oh, poor Lyall, his happiness did 
not last long ! Bride very soon opened his eyes." 

Augusta told me that her sister-in-law was in such a 
state that they feared a nervous breakdown, and that 
Lyall Gresham was obliged to go alone. I suppose she 
absolutely refused to accompany him." 

I don’t think it quite came to that — at least I hope 
not," returned Lady Templeton, ‘‘but she certainly did 
not conceal her repugnance. Lyall is very masterful, 
but he is proud and sensitive. She hurt him cruelly, but 
he would not compel her to go. ‘ Perhaps it will be 
better for me to go first and see what sort of a place it 
is, and you could follow me later,' he said to her, and 
Bride caught at the reprieve at once. Poor Lyall, he was 


St. Monica’s Lodge 


9 


almost heart-broken when he left her, but nothing would 
have induced him to shirk his promise. ' No man who 
putteth his hand to the plough and looketh back/ he 
quoted once to Frances. ‘ I have undertaken the work 
for three years and I will stick to my post.' Frances 
said she nearly burst out crying in his face." 

‘‘ I wonder what sort of a place St. Philips is," re^ 
marked Mrs. Osborne. 

Oh, it is only a mission church just out of Cape 
Town, very rough; and the Vicarage an ugly wooden 
building, not at all the place for a woman like Bride. 
Lyall told her so quite frankly. ‘ If you come you will 
have to rough it,' he wrote to her, ‘ but I will do my 
best to make you comfortable. A missionary's wife is 
bound to put up with some amount of hardness, but I 
would do my level best to smooth things if you will only 
trust yourself to me.' I think that was so touching." 

And yet she never went. He has been alone these 
two years." Mrs. Osborne spoke in a tone of strong 
disapproval, but Lady Templeton only sighed again. 

'' No she has not gone," she said simply, and then 
coffee was brought in, and the subject dropped. 


II 


Sister Gresham 

The honest, earnest man must stand and work, 

The woman also. E. B. Browning. 

Can I be calm, beholding everywhere 
Disease and anguish, busy early and late? 

Can I be silent, nor compassionate 
The evils that both soul and body bear? 

Buchanan. 

A FEW days after this biographical conversation ” as 
Frances was wont to call it, a hansom drove up to the 
garden gate of St. Monica's Lodge, and a young lady 
in grey, with a very handsome grey fur stole stepped 
out, and lifting down a small light travelling bag, paid 
the driver, and then taking a key that hung from her 
chatelaine let herself in, and walked up the long garden 
path that led to the house. 

She was tall and rather slight and she walked with 
a little swing that was not ungraceful. Her step was 
light and buoyant; there was something of repressed 
eagerness iti her manner and as she looked towards the 
house, a little smile stole over her face. ‘‘ How surprised 
she will be ! " she said to herself, and she laughed for a 
moment quite audibly. ‘‘ I have never done such a thing 
before, but I know she will be pleased. I will find a 
hiding-place for my bag, and then I will spring a mine 
on her " ; and here there was another little rippling laugh, 
much to the alarm of a robin who was performing his 
toilet in a laurel bush. There was no need to knock or 
ring, and Elinor Gresham soon found a corner for her 
bag; then she crossed the large hall, only stopping once 
to sniflf some odour that was distinctly disagree^le to 
her. Anaesthetics," she muttered rather discontentedly ; 
“ there has been an operation and Frances will be too 
busy to attend to me," and a worried little frown came 
to her forehead. 


Sister Gresham 


11 


Of course it was damping, but she must make the best 
of it; she had come to an age when one had to take 
disappointments philosophically. Very likely she would 
find the Sister’s room empty, Frances would be with the 
patient. “ Oh, I should never do for a nurse,” she thought 
as she turned down a passage beyond the staircase, the 
smell of ether nearly sickens me. Ah! she is talking 
to some one, not the surgeon, I hope, or I shall run away 
— no,” as distinctly feminine tones reached her, ‘‘ it is 
probably only a visitor,” and then she tapped smartly 
at the door, and a very clear, pleasant voice said. 
Come in.” 

A tall dark woman in the grey uniform of a nurse, 
was standing in the middle of the room talking to two 
ladies who had risen to take their leave. As Elinor 
entered, a quick flush came to Sister Gresham’s face, 
but she spoke very quietly. ‘‘ Will you sit down, Nora? 
I will attend to you directly,” and then she went on with 
her conversation. 

Elinor took one of the deep easy-chairs by the fire 
and drew off her gloves. She was quite content to wait 
Frances’ convenience. The atmosphere of the Sister’s 
room always rested her, and made her feel peaceful. 
Frances’ strong individuality permeated it. It was a 
delightful room, not large, but very cheerful, and its 
two windows opened on the back garden, a small lawn 
with a rockery, and a miniature pond much frequented 
by birds. Frances always called it The Blackbirds’ 
Bath.” 

Miss Holdsworth had made more than one critical 
comment on the luxurious easy-chairs and roomy couch, 
but Frances had defended herself with a good deal of 
spirit. It is my sanctum and harbour of refuge,” she 
returned. ‘‘ In my opinion no chairs can be too soft 
for a tired worker. I mean to give you one for your 
next birthday present,” and after this magnanimous 
remark Miss Holdsworth’s lips were sealed. 

Elinor loved the Sister’s room. She and Frances had 
planned it together. The bookcases were filled with their 
favourite books; a handsome cabinet held all Nurse 
Gresham’s stock-in-trade, — her medical books and profes- 


12 


No Friend Like a Sister 


sional appliances ; her writing-table was covered with 
account-books and papers all neatly docketed and 
arranged; the little round table near the window was 
for her work-basket and Mudie's books ; a vase of flowers 
and a large photograph of Elinor herself in a massive 
silver frame always stood on this table. 

Over the mantelpiece there was a good-sized photo 
of a young clergyman in a curiously carved oak frame. 
Elinor's eyes turned to it more than once, for it was the 
likeness of their dearly loved brother Lyall. 

It was not a handsome face, and yet there was a 
singular beauty about it ; it looked very young, but bore 
the marks of a super-sensitive and highly strung tempera- 
ment. It was the sort of face that one sees under a 
monk's cowl; and the eyes, which were dark and pene- 
trating like his sister Frances' had a deep-seated sadness. 
Mrs. Osborne had called Lyall Gresham a visionary ; and 
in looking at his stern young face and strongly marked 
features it was not difficult to realise that he was the sort 
of man who would fight not always wisely, but most 
certainly to grim death for what he deemed the right. 
It is the worst of these self-sacrificing natures, that they 
are seldom content with their own immolation and devo- 
tion to the cause of duty, but they make exasperating 
demands on those they love best. 

Bride once pettishly declared to her sisters-in-law that 
she thought the lot of a Hindu widow in the dark ages 
far preferable to that of being Lyall's wife. 

They don't burn the poor things in their husbands' 
lifetime," she observed ; '' and when they light the funeral 
pile they are so intoxicated with the spirits they give 
them that I don't believe they suffer much, they are just 
suffocated. But Lyall insists on the suttee beforehand. 
He wants me to ascend the funeral pyre every day of 
my life, and there is no hurry and no beating of drums." 
But Frances and Elinor only laughed at this wild speech. 
Lyall frowned and bit his lip when it was repeated to 
him. Lyall had many virtues, but he had one great 
fault in his sisters' eyes, he was sadly deficient in a sense 
of humour, and no efforts on their part could cure him. 

Lyall is always so terribly in earnest," Elinor once 


Sister Gresham 


13 


said. I know he thinks us very flippant, but I tell him 
we must be natural. I did so hope that when he married 
that Bride would teach him to be more human.'’ But 
on this point she was doomed to be disappointed. 
Frances and Elinor were not at all alike, and at first 
sight it was difficult for strangers to realise that they 
were sisters. 

Frances, who was three years older than Elinor, was 
a plain woman, dark-complexioned, and with Lyall's 
strongly marked features ; but her expression was pleas- 
ing, and her tall figure in her Sister's uniform was 
extremely dignified. She had beautiful hair though it 
was hidden under her cap ; but without doubt the nurse’s 
dress became her. 

Elinor was far better looking, though she could not 
be called handsome ; her hazel eyes were very soft and 
clear, the large picture-hat she wore suited her admirably, 
and she looked younger than she really was. Her actual 
age was seven-and-twenty, and she had an absurd habit 
of speaking of herself as no longer young. Count time 
by heart-beats," she would quote in rather a provoking 
manner, when her eldest sister called her a ridiculous 
child. 

Augusta never liked to be reminded that she was in 
her thirty-fifth year. Elinor was a girl in her eyes, and 
Bride a mere child. “ A woman is as old as she feels, 
and no older," she returned sententiously. 

‘‘ That is just what I remarked," drawled Elinor; if 
I count my age by heart-beats I must be a sort of female 
Methuselah. Lyall's marriage has aged me. Yesterday 
I found a grey hair. I have put it up in silver paper to 
remind me of my latter end; I think I shall keep it in 
that little silver-and-glass box on my toilet table ; it will 
be like the mummy at the Egyptian feast — my first grey 
hair. I think I must ask Bride to write a poem on it, she 
does write poetry so delightfully." 

But Augusta only said, '' Pshaw, how can you waste 
your time in talking such nonsense, Nora ? " and went 
on with her writing. Augusta Gresham was also deplor- 
ably lacking in a sense of humour. 

When Frances had seen the last of her visitors, she 


14 


No Friend Like a Sister 


came back into the room and found that Elinor had laid 
aside her hat and stole, and was making herself very 
much at home. Frances gave her a warm kiss, and then 
knelt down on the rug ; she looked happy, but extremely 
tired. 

'' I have done a hard day's work," she exclaimed, giving 
herself a luxurious stretch. That poor little widow, 
Mrs. Masters, had a very serious operation early this 
afternoon, and of course I was with her. We hope it 
will be successful. I am sorry, Nora, that you should 
have come to-day, for I shall be obliged to leave you. 
I shall just have time for a cup of tea, and then I must 
go upstairs for an hour or so, — how late can you stay, 
dear ? " 

Then Elinor, who had looked rather blank over 
Frances' speech, grew cheerful again. Oh, I am in no 
hurry, I can stay all the evening if you like. Augusta 
had a telegram from Mrs. Pelham this morning, asking 
her to dine and sleep at Fernley; and Bride does not 
need me, she has her Cape letter to write; and when 
she has had a good cry over it she will console herself 
with Chopin and an exciting novel. I think a well- 
written, thoroughly interesting novel comforts Bride 
more than anything." 

Does it? " returned Frances rather absently, but she 
was thinking of the little widow upstairs, who was crying 
in her weakness for the husband who lay in his grave. 
The sad problems of life often puzzled Frances, and 
gave her that tired wrinkle across her forehead. It was 
her fate to see the seamy side of life, her sympathy with 
her patients often drew tears from her eyes. If I 
could only comfort the poor things and help them to bear 
their sufferings," she would say sometimes to Miss 
Holds worth. Some lives are so terribly sad, Edith. 
If I were an agnostic I think my pity would drive me 
mad." When -Frances made this sort of speeches there 
was a strong resemblance between her and Lyall. 

I don't believe you are attending to a word I say,” 
observed Elinor impatiently. ‘‘ You are in one of your 
thinking moods. You have got your Fra Angelico 
expression," — an old joke between the sisters — please 


Sister Gresham 


15 


be mundane for five minutes while I explain the situation. 
Bride, like the dear she is, has promised not to be dull 
without me; so I thought, if you have a spare bed, I 
would stay for the night, — that is, if you would care to 
have me,’^ with an arch look. Then was Frances 
effectually roused. 

‘'Want you! Do I ever cease to want you?’^ she 
said affectionately. “ You dear old thing. If I had not 
a spare bed in the house I would sleep on the floor sooner 
than let you go! Let me see. All our rooms are full, 
but you shall share mine. There is always an emergency 
bed that can be used. Oh, this is too delightful; it 
makes me feel rested at once! I will tell you what we 
will do, Nora. Jane shall bring up tea at once, and you 
shall give me a cup; but I cannot stay to talk. There 
are the new books from Mudie to amuse you, and I will 
look in on you from time to time, as often as my duties 
permit. I am afraid I shall not be free until nearly 
eight ; then we will have a cosy little supper by ourselves, 
and talk to our hearts’ content. Will that satisfy you ? ” 

“ Yes,” returned Elinor a little wistfully ; “ if you will 
only give me your undivided attention then. I have 
something rather important to tell you.” 

Then Frances, struck by her unusual seriousness, sud- 
denly put her hands on Elinor’s shoulders, and turned 
her towards the light. 

“ One question, Nora. You are not going to be 
married ? ” Then Elinor laughed in an amused manner. 

“ Good gracious, have you taken leave of your senses ? 
Do I ever see any one who is likely to fall in love with 
me, or I with him? The masculine specimens who come 
to the Boltons are not to my taste, I assure you, — 
German professors, who take snuff and smell of garlic, 
long-haired spiritualists and poets. I am afraid the 
British editors are all furnished with wives already. 
And as for our especial tame cat. Sir Ralph Peyton, it 
is more than my life is worth to speak half-a-dozen 
words to him, or Augusta will be down on me.” 

“ Poor Augusta,” returned Frances very gravely, “ I 
am afraid that she is still devoted to him, but he will 
never ask her to be Lady Peyton. Here we are, chatter- 


16 


No Friend Like a Sister 


ing as usual, but I must tear myself away. I will come 
down again in a quarter of an hour, when I think tea is 
ready. Ta-ta, my dear,’' and Sister Gresham’s tall figure 
whirled through the open door. 

Elinor drew her chair closer to the fire, for it was a 
cold, cheerless afternoon. The book she had selected 
looked interesting, but she was in no hurry to open it. 
It was pleasanter to bask in the firelight, and let her 
thoughts wander where they list. 

Why did Frances always look grave when she men- 
tioned Sir Ralph’s name? They none of them liked the 
man, though even Bride, who hated him most, could not 
deny that he was handsome, and looked an aristocrat to 
his finger-tips. Bride always declared that his long, well- 
shaped hands and polished nails inspired her with perfect 
aversion. He is a selfish egotist,” she said once. He 
will never marry, because he is too fond of his own 
comfort ; and a wife would bore him to extinction. He 
likes to go to his club, and ride in the Row, and drive 
a four-in-hand when the weather suits him. Of course 
Augusta thinks him adorable; that is why he likes to 
come to the Boltons. She gives him all his favourite 
dishes, and between the entrees he makes pretty speeches 
to her.” 

Bride was forever making these little satirical obser- 
vations; she and Elinor took a malicious pleasure in 
criticising the habitues of Grove House, and making 
merry at their expense. The omnium-gatherums, in 
which the eldest Miss Gresham’s soul delighted, were 
very distasteful to her sisters. 

Strangers always admired Augusta Gresham. She 
was a clever woman, and decidedly handsome, although 
the storm and stress of life, and the restlessness of an 
unsatisfied nature had worn and aged her. 

She was a singularly unbalanced person, and was apt 
to take up all sorts of extraordinary people, of whom 
she speedily grew weary. She had a knack of dropping 
a person who bored her, which excited Elinor’s wonder 
and admiration. 

'' How does she do it ? ” she would ask. She has a 
way of turning a cold shoulder in the most natural way 


Sister Gresham 


17 


possible, and her voice drawls a little, and she drops 
her eyelids. Oh, I saw Fraulein von Oppenheim’s face 
the other evening. The poor thing grew so red and 
uncomfortable. Augusta is quite sick of the Oppen- 
heims; she does not like the snuff and the garlic any 
more than we do.’’ 

It must be owned that Miss Gresham’s Fortnight- 
lies,” as Elinor called them, were often composed of very 
incongruous elements. Augusta, who prided herself on 
being broad and large-minded, and who considered that 
it was her duty to be all things to all men, would include 
in her invitation-lists men and women belonging to every 
school of thought. Lyall, who was once present, found 
himself, to his disgust, obliged to play the host to a 
notorious agnostic, who spent his Sunday afternoons 
trying to undermine the faith of any weak-minded young 
man who chose to listen to him. And there were several 
Christian Scientists and half-a-dozen Spiritualists, 
flanked by an Unitarian minister and an extreme High 
Churchman. Lyall retired with the last-mentioned guest 
into a corner promptly. He was an old college friend, 
and at that moment he was the very salt of the earth 
to Lyall. 

‘‘ Did you ever see such an assemblage of cranks, 
Purley?” he observed. Father Purley, he was com- 
monly called at St. Dunstan’s. My sister has no right 
to bring that man inside the house ; he does more evil in 
the week than you and your curates can undo in a month. 
Of course you know whom I mean — Brandon — ^Joseph 
Brandon, that fellow with the bull’s neck and long beard. 
He was holding forth in the Park last Sunday, such a 
crowd of pale-faced lads around him, and he was filling 
their ignorant young souls with his poisonous garbage. 
^ Englishmen should love the truth,’ he was thundering 
as I passed. ‘ We have emerged from the Dark Ages 
of superstition. No more smug priests battening in 
their luxury and devouring their loaves and fishes and 
dressed in purple and fine linen.’ 

Poor little Mallard was with me, — you know him, 
Purley, a more hard-working, honest fellow never lived, 
and he has an invalid wife and six children,” 

2 


18 


No Friend Like a Sister 


It was his own fault for marrying on a curate’s 
stipend,” returned Father Purley coldly, for he prided 
himself on his celibacy. 

Ah well, we can’t think alike,” returned Lyall quickly, 
for he had already seen the woman who was to spoil his 
life. “ But let me finish, when Brandon bellowed out 
about the purple and fine linen Mallard gave me a queer 
look. ^ We don’t batten much in luxury up at our place,’ 
he said drily. And I found out afterwards that he had 
not tasted meat for a week, and there was his poor sick 
wife. I told my sisters about it, and I have reason to 
know that sundry legs of mutton and rounds of beef were 
delivered at No. 9, Sugden Street. By-the-bye, Purley, 
could you not get their boy into St. Dunstan’s School, 
he is a likely little chap, and they are giving him no 
education ? ” 

And then the two men were soon deep in a discussion 
of ways and means; for in spite of his vagaries Father 
Purley had a warm heart, and loved to minister, both 
spiritually and physically, to his fellow-creatures. One 
cannot be a priest unless one is ready to live or die for 
the people entrusted to one’s care,” Lyall Gresham once 
said. 


Ill 


The Last Steaw 

How vainly seek 

The selfish for that happiness denied 
To ought but virtue ! Blind and burdened they 
Who covet power they know not how to use 
And sigh for pleasure they refuse to give! 

Madly they frustrate still their own designs. 

Shelley. 

It was long past eight before Frances returned to the 
Sister’s room with the smiling assurance that her day’s 
work was over, and that she would be free from disturb- 
ance for the next two hours. 

The little supper-table was already spread, and as the 
sisters partook of their simple meal they talked principally 
of matters connected with the Home. 

Elinor, who took the keenest interest in her sister’s 
work, and was acquainted with the names and histories 
of all the nurses, always questioned Frances very min- 
utely on the events of the week or ten days which had 
elapsed since their last meeting. “ I suppose Miss Holds- 
worth still comes to you on Sunday afternoons ? ” she 
asked presently. There was a slight change in Elinor’s 
tone as she said this that would have been imperceptible 
to any one but Frances. 

Oh yes, it is Edith’s only free afternoon,” she 
returned cheerfully, '' and she always says the walk does 
her so much good; we both enjoy our hour’s chat.” 

Oh I daresay,” returned Elinor a little drily ; then 
Frances smiled to herself and rather adroitly changed 
the subject. 

She was fully aware that Elinor did not thoroughly 
appreciate Miss Holdsworth, that the two women were 
not in touch, though they mutually respected each other; 
and though Frances would not have hinted at such a 
thing for worlds, that Elinor was a little jealous of Edith 
Holdsworth’s influence. 


19 


20 


No Friend Like a Sister 


I always wonder you can be so fond of her/’ Elinor 
had said to her once. Miss Holdsworth is very nice 
and clever, but she is too strong-minded and undemon- 
strative for my taste. I like to know what people think, 
and she is so terribly reserved.” 

“ I know what you mean,” returned Frances tolerantly; 
but Edith is really very warm-hearted, though strangers 
do not always find it out. She has had much to try her 
in her life; from a girl she has had to stand alone and 
rely on herself, and then she has had no sister Nora.” 
And Frances had looked at her affectionately. 

Elinor did not often make these speeches; she would 
have considered it unkind to Frances; but there was a 
lack of spontaneity in her manner, a slight glacial edge 
to her tone when any opinion of Edith Holdsworth’s 
was brought forward, which Frances understood quite 
well. ‘‘ I wish they knew each other better,” she said 
to herself once ; they are both so good, but there is no 
use talking about it. If I leave them alone, they will 
soon find each other out, and Nora does try so hard not 
to let me see what she feels.” 

When supper was over the sisters drew up by the 
fireside, and as soon as the table had been cleared, and 
Jane had carried off the last tray, Frances looked at her 
sister in a quiet, searching way. 

Well, Nora,” she said placidly, ‘‘ you have been very 
good and patient all these hours. Now, I will be very 
attentive while you unfold your budget. Has Augusta 
been behaving unkindly to Bride again ? ” 

“ Oh, that is an old story,” returned Elinor quickly. 
I consider that Augusta behaves abominably to the poor 
child; she has no consideration for her, and she sneers 
at her quite openly before people. But it is not only 
Bride’s grievances. Things have come to such a pass 
lately, and Augusta has become so despotic, that we can 
neither of us put up with it any longer. She makes our 
home life unbearable; and yesterday, after talking it 
over with Bride, I told Augusta that we could no longer 
remain at the Boltons, and that Bride and I would make 
a home together until Lyall came back.” 

My dear Nora, this is a very grave step on your 


The Last Straw 


21 


part! Are you sure that things cannot be remedied? I 
shall be perfectly willing to try my hand with Augusta. 
We might manage to frighten her between us, and bring 
her to reason.’’ 

But Elinor shook her head. ‘‘ No, it has gone too far 
for talk, and Bride and I have made up our minds. It 
is useless to try and change Augusta. She is a tyrant 
by nature, and will have her way. Bride is telling Lyall 
about our plan to-night; he will not object to it. We 
mean to go down to Meadow Thorpe and settle at Wild- 
croft. How astonished you look, Frances! Bride and 
I will love it. We both delight in the country ; and think 
how peaceful our life will be without Augusta and her 
odious Fortnightlies.” 

Frances remained silent, she was intensely surprised. 
Elinor had borne so much all these years, and had so 
quietly acquiesced in Augusta’s despotic sway over the 
household, that this sudden self-assertion on her part was 
quite unexpected. She was the last person to find fault 
with Elinor’s decision. Years before she had quarrelled 
with Augusta, and shaken off the dust of Grove House, 
unable to bear her eldest sister’s imperious temper; but 
Elinor’s nature was so soft and pliant. No, she would 
not judge or even offer an opinion until she had heard 
more. 

‘‘ I wish you would tell me what brought things to 
such a climax,” she said slowly. If you are fighting 
Bride’s battles there is an easier solution of the difficulty 
than burying yourselves at Meadow Thorpe. Let Bride 
do her duty and go to her husband.” 

‘‘ Ah, I thought you would say that, Frances,” and 
Elinor spoke rather sadly ; but Lyall will not let her 
go out to him. Oh ! ” as Frances looked at her in amaze- 
ment, I knew I should surprise you, but Bride would 
not let me tell you before. She wrote to Lyall three 
months ago, and told him that she was ready to go out 
to him. It was such a nice letter, she made me read it, 
it was so affectionate and wifely. She owned, quite 
frankly, that she had not done her duty, but she hoped 
that he would forgive her, and let her try and retrieve 
the past. These were not her actual words, I am only 


22 


No Friend Like a Sister 


giving you the sense. Bride wrote very simply, but I 
thought her letter extremely touching.'’ 

‘‘ And Lyall refused to have her? " 

‘‘Yes; but his answer was very kind, though Bride 
was excessively hurt and injured. He told her that much 
as he should love to have her with him he thought it 
would be best for her to remain with his sisters; that 
he would probably be home in another year, and that 
they could then discuss their future plans together; but 
Bride chose to make herself very unhappy about his letter. 
She declares that he has lost faith in her, and does not 
believe that she is really in earnest. ‘ Unless you can 
tell me that our separation really makes you unhappy,' 
he wrote, ‘ I think it will be better to let things remain as 
they are at present.' " 

“ Poor Lyall," sighed Frances, “ he would have 
answered Bride very differently if she had written a year 
or eighteen months ago. She has left him too long in 
his solitude. One cannot wonder that he is embittered; 
his very love for Bride makes him hard." 

“ So I told her, but you cannot get Bride to be 
reasonable, she is 'rather a spoilt child in some things. 
She declares that he has ceased to love her, that she 
has worn him out. Oh, I just want to shake her when 
she talks in that ridiculous fashion. I tell her, some- 
times, that I can hardly keep my hands off her, and 
then she looks at me with such big mournful eyes. ‘ You 
are only Lyall's sister, you cannot judge,' she says with 
dignity. ‘ I should think his wife must know him best.' 
When she makes these speeches I can hardly help 
laughing in her face." 

“ Oh, there is no use laughing at her," returned 
Frances rather impatiently. “ Bride cannot help her 
temperament, she is far too limited to understand Lyall's 
intense nature. The fact is, he dare not let her go out 
to him; he knows that they would both be miserable, 
and that she would hinder his work. Well, it is a weary 
subject. Do not let us talk any more about Bride. I 
am far too anxious to know what caused your rupture 
with Gussie." 

“ Well, I will try to explain if I can, Frances dear. 


The Last Straw 


23 


but for a long time there have been little vexing worries 
and jars; and unless we have kept in our own upstairs 
sitting-room, there has really been no peace from all 
those odious people whom Augusta brings to the house. 
There is a dreadful woman, Madame Brissac, who comes 
morning, noon, and night. She calls herself a Theoso- 
phist, but Bride and I think she is a little mad. She talks 
in such a crazy manner that I am quite ashamed of the 
maids hearing her. We positively loathe her. And 
Augusta was very angry one night, because she said that 
we did not treat Madame Brissac with sufficient respect ; 
but I told her that if she would only have decent people 
to the house she would not have to complain of our 
manner. Oh, she was so offended when I said that.’’ 

Frances shrugged her shoulders ; she had fought these 
little battles again and again, and more than once 
Augusta had had to give in, and get rid of some obnox- 
ious acquaintance; but Elinor, who had not her sister’s 
spirit, had not yet achieved a victory. 

But it was not Madame Brissac who was our last 
straw,” went on Elinor. You know the life Augusta 
leads us in Lent, and how she jeers at our little rules, 
well, she has got worse lately. She prides herself on 
being what she calls a Broad Church-woman, and she 
is never better pleased than when she is trampling 
on our feelings. You know, Frances, that with all her 
faults, Bride is really religious ; and being a clergyman’s 
wife, she thinks it her duty to do certain things; and 
she does so hate Gussie’s mocking little speeches before 
people. 

Well, the day before yesterday Augusta told me 
that she was sending out invitations for a large At Home 
and Musicale, and she hoped to secure Signor Rossini’s 
services. Imagine my horror when I found that the date 
was the second Friday in Lent, and that at least a 
hundred and fifty people were to be invited.” 

My dear Nora ” — and it was evident that Frances 
was shocked. Augusta had never done anything quite 
so glaring before. What right had one sister to usurp 
all the authority, and to insist on outraging the feelings 
of those who lived with her ? Surely Elinor had sufficient 


24 No Friend Like a Sister 

cause to assert herself if Augusta could forget herself 
in this way. 

‘‘ I hope you told her that you would not be present 
at her party/' observed Frances coolly. 

‘‘ I was too much upset to say anything at the moment/' 
returned Elinor ; ‘‘ besides, I wanted to talk to Bride. 
I knew Augusta had an engagement for the afternoon 
and evening, and that old cat, Madame Brissac, was 
coming to luncheon — " Madame Mephistopheles,' as 
Bride calls her. I made Bride come out shopping with 
me, and we lost our train on purpose, and when we 
returned we found that Hyde had cleared everything 
away. Augusta had told her to do so, but I made her 
bring some dishes back. Augusta looked so disgusted 
when she peeped in and saw us. 

‘ It is a pity you give the servants so much trouble 
with your unpunctual ways, Nora,' she said crossly — and 
there was Hyde looking as sulky and disagreeable as 
possible. 

‘ It is a pity you ordered her to clear away,' was my 
answer, ' when you were quite aware that we should 
return and want our luncheon ' ; and Augusta was so 
taken aback at this unexpected retort that she actually 
held her tongue. 

“ Well, we talked that night until midnight. Bride 
and I were so sick of things that we made up our minds 
to leave Grove House for good and all. I was awake 
half the night worrying about it all and how I should 
break it to Augusta, and dreading the row that there 
would be; but there was no use putting things off; it 
was better to strike while the iron was hot, and I was 
at fever heat." 

My poor dear Nora," and Frances put out her hand 
to her sister, if I could only fight your battles for you as 
I used in the old days " — then Elinor's soft eyes looked 
very sad. 

“ If I could only leave off missing you so horribly," 
she returned; ‘‘but I never could find courage to stand 
up to Augusta before. Even as I turned the handle of 
the morning-room door yesterday I felt quite sick and 
cold with apprehension, — it seemed such a dreadful 


The Last Straw 


25 


thing to tell one’s own sister that one can no longer live 
with her.” 

‘‘ I had to do it, Nora.” 

‘‘ Ah, but you are always brave, and Augusta was 
rather afraid of you. She would never have dared to 
do this thing if you had been in the house; but she 
does not care the least little bit for what we think.” 

“ That is because you will not assert yourself, Nora.” 

Oh yes, I know ; an easy temper is not always a 
blessing. I am afraid I have been a peace-at-any-price 
woman, — ^but to cut an unpleasant story short. I found 
Augusta at her writing-table; it was positively strewn 
with invitation-cards. They were like the proverbial 
red flag to the bull; and for once — just imagine it, 
Francie, dear — I was in a regular temper. Augusta 
received me with her usual civility ; she was excessively 
busy, and hoped that I was not going to interrupt her. 
She had been hindered already, and she wanted to send 
off the first batch of cards that afternoon. 

‘ 1 am afraid you must listen to me for a moment,’ 
I replied, but my voice was not quite under control, 
^ as I have something very important to say. As usual, 
you have not chosen to consult me, and now I wish to 
tell you that neither Bride nor I will be at the Musicale.’ ” 

‘‘ Bravo,” murmured Frances softly. 

Augusta stared at me, and then she got very red. 
'What nonsense are you talking, Nora? I spoke to 
you about the party yesterday, and you made no objec- 
tion. As the invitations are from the Misses Gresham 
you can hardly be absent. Bride can do as she likes ; her 
movements do not interest me in the least.’ 

" ' There is no use discussing the point,’ — I was get- 
ting angry now — ' nothing will induce me to appear 
at the Musicale. You know my views on this subject. 
Frances, Lyall, Bride and I think alike on this subject; 
you have chosen to offend our prejudices. You have 
gone too far, Augusta; it is a matter of principle, and 
I will not yield.’ ” 

"That was well said, Nora. How did Augusta take 
that?” 

" She looked intensely uncomfortable. I am sure 


26 


No Friend Like a Sister 


from her manner that she felt she had done an unwise 
thing. 

“ ' I hope you are not going to make a fuss now/ 
she said irritably. ‘ You must see for yourself that I 
cannot alter things now the cards are printed. If I 
had known that you object so much to Friday I would 
have fixed another day.’ 

'' ‘ But it would still be a Lenten party ! ’ then Augusta 
was silent. She never fibs; that’s one thing in her 
favour. 

‘‘ ‘ You had better throw those cards in the fire, 
Gussie,’ I went on ; ‘ you have no right to use my name 
without my sanction. It is not my party, and I will 
have nothing to do with it’ Then as she saw I was 
really in earnest her temper got the better of her. Oh, 
the things she said — ^but, strange to say, I was more 
disgusted than frightened. I wondered all the time she 
was storming at me what some of her dear friends 
would think if they heard their dignified, smooth-man- 
nered Miss Gresham just then.” 

Oh, I know what you mean, Nora. She is like 
another woman ; but it is better to pass over that.” 

‘‘ I don’t think I listened, I had too much on my mind, 
and then I was in a sort of rage — even a worm will 
turn. And to think that my name should be used in 
that mean way. As soon as she stopped to take breath 
I had my innings. 

'' ‘ For the future,’ I observed, ' it will be Miss not 
the Misses Gresham. Bride and I have decided to make 
a home for ourselves, our life at Grove House is simply 
unbearable. You do nothing to make us happy, Augusta, 
and we can no longer put up with your extraordinary 
friends. It would be far wiser to make the break before 
things have become more strained and impossible. As 
we both like the country we shall probably stay at Wild- 
croft. Lyall’s tenants left last month. You can tell your 
acquaintances if you like that we prefer a quieter life 
in the country. We shall be better friends apart, Augusta, 
and I know you do not really need us.’ ” 

Frances drew a long breath of relief ; she felt she 


The Last Straw 


27 


could not have done better herself. '' What did she 
say ? she asked anxiously. 

'' Oh, she never uttered one word, but I saw that she 
turned pale. I expect I gave her rather a shock. She 
motioned with her hand that I should leave her. She 
was actually writing her notes before I closed the door. 
I had a good cry in my own room before I went to 
Bride, and that relieved me, but my head ached so that 
I could not go down to luncheon; but Lady Templeton 
was there, and that made things easier for Bride. She told 
me afterwards that Augusta did not seem herself, though 
she made a great effort to be agreeable; but she never 
spoke to Bride or looked at her, and she made no remark 
when Bride told Lady Templeton that I was upstairs with 
a headache.” 

You were quite right, Nora,” observed Frances 
thoughtfully. '' Augusta has had a very unexpected 
shock, she will not like your leaving Grove House. She 
is afraid her friends will guess the true reason ; but 
we will finish our talk, as I must go my rounds for the 
night. Poor Nora, how tired you look; do not sit up 
any longer, there is a nice fire in my room and I will 
soon join you,” and Elinor, worn out with conflicting 
feelings, acted on this advice. 


IV 


A Divided Household 

It is the gradual furnace of the world, 

In whose hot air our spirits are uncurl’d, 

Until they crumble, or else grow like steel. 

Which kills in us the bloom, the youth, the spring. 

Which leaves the fierce necessity to feel, 

But takes away the power. M. Arnold. 

Elinor had had two wakeful nights, and she was so 
worn out with the excitement and emotion of the preced- 
ing day that Frances found no difficulty in persuading 
her to leave any further talk until the next morning, and 
she had scarcely laid her head upon the pillow before she 
was asleep. 

It was Frances who kept vigil that night, who lay 
wide-awake, gazing at the flickering firelight, and listen- 
ing to her sister’s soft breathing, while her active brain 
reviewed carefully each point in their conversation. 

Elinor’s coup d'etat had taken .her completely by sur- 
prise, but in her heart she was well pleased that the 
sadly divided household at Grove House should be broken 
up. The atmosphere of such a house was not good for 
either Elinor or Bride, and there was nothing wrong 
or unreasonable in their contemplated plan, and they 
had every right, if they chose, to make a home together. 

When Lyall left his young wife to his sisters’ care, 
he was in reality entrusting her to Elinor, for even then 
Augusta showed herself antagonistic to her sister-in-law. 
‘‘ Nora will stick to her,” he had said to Frances ; good 
old Nora, one can always rely on her, and Bride is quite 
devoted to her. I am afraid she and Augusta will never 
hit it off, but if things get a little difficult you will give 
them a helping hand, I know,” for Lyall had an immense 
respect for Frances’ judgment and good sense. Indeed 
he wished that Elinor had some of her pluck. ‘‘ She 


A Divided Household 


29 


lets Augusta sit on her too much/’ he would say, she 
never seems to understand that she is quite as much 
mistress of the house as Augusta.” 

Frances had often pointed this out to Elinor, and more 
than once she had advised her very strongly to show fight. 

Gussie is the sort of person that if you give her an inch 
she is sure to take an ell,” she remarked once. You have 
got into the habit of yielding to her, and you are too indo- 
lent to assert yourself,” and Elinor had sadly endorsed 
this. Without any effort on her part the red flag of revolt 
had been hoisted, and a revolution had been declared. 

Frances was truly thankful that Elinor and Bride 
had taken this decided step, and she was also sure that 
Lyall would approve. Recently he had written in rather 
a displeased manner to Augusta, and had complained 
of the undesirable people who were invited to Grove 
House. I do not wish my wife to be introduced to 
Joseph Brandon or any of his disciples,” he wrote, ‘‘ and 
I have desired her to have nothing to do with them.” 
Augusta had been much offended by her brother’s letter, 
and had answered him in her usual aggressive fashion. 

If Bride does not intend to be civil and pleasant to 
our friends, she can remain in her own sitting-room,” 
she wrote, ‘‘ or make her home elsewhere ; for I shall 
certainly not consult my sister-in-law about the people 
I choose to invite to the house.” 

Lyall frowned and sighed heavily as he put the letter 
aside. ‘‘ If it were not for Elinor,” he said to himself^ 

I think it would be better for Bride to leave Grove 
House ; but I know that she and Nora would never con- 
sent to a separation.” But it did not enter Lyall’s head 
that Elinor would wish to cut herself adrift from her old 
home, and cast in her lot with Bride. 

Looking at it all round, it was certainly the best thing 
under the circumstances, and Frances was quite sure 
that Lyall would most thoroughly approve of the plan; 
but in her heart she was a little sorry for Augusta, it 
would be a bitter pill for her to swallow, and her pride 
would be acutely wounded. 

With all her glaring faults she was not utterly devoid 
of affection; and, as they all knew, Elinor was in some 


30 


No Friend Like a Sister 


respects her favourite ; her easy temperament had given 
Augusta little trouble all these years. 

Augusta's unhappy nature and morbid restlessness had 
been aggravated by disappointment. Some years pre- 
viously she had believed, and not without sufficient reason, 
that Sir Ralph Peyton was in love with her. He was a 
striking looking man of commanding presence and a 
fascinating manner, and his old family, immense wealth, 
and undoubted position, made him a desirable parti 
in the eyes of match-making mothers. Augusta Gresham 
who was undeniably the beauty of the family, had been 
a very handsome girl, and friends of the Greshams’ 
thought they were a very well-matched couple. 

There could be little doubt that Sir Ralph had paid 
her marked attention. When they met in society he 
had singled her out on every occasion. During one 
season they had been together almost daily, and then, 
before any decisive words had been spoken, he had gone 
off to shoot tigers in India. Augusta was only seven- 
and-twenty then, and, as Frances knew, she was very 
much in love, there was nothing to prevent their engage- 
ment ; and when Sir Ralph left with a careless good-bye, 
both Augusta’s pride and affection were cruelly wounded. 
She knew that her friends would think that he had 
treated her badly, and perhaps in her heart she secretly 
agreed with them. No man had any right to make a 
woman so conspicuous, his attentions had been lover- 
like, and he had never tried to disguise his admiration. 

It is the looker-on who sees most of the game, and 
it was then that Frances had uttered her warning. Sir 
Ralph is very fascinating, Gussie,” she said gravely, 
but I advise you not to expect too much from him. I 
feel sure he is not a marrying man.” But Augusta had 
been very angry at this. Her imperious temper never 
brooked interference and though Sir Ralph had inflicted 
this mortification on her, she was not without hope. 

Poor Augusta; she had set her heart on being Lady 
Peyton. No other man had ever found favour in her 
eyes. Unfortunately her affections were deeply involved, 
and though on his return from India, his attentions had 
perceptibly cooled, and he no longer devoted himself 


A Divided Household 


31 


wholly to her, he always took pleasure in her society, and 
after a time they seemed to settle down into an agreeable 
and steady friendship. Augusta, who was a thorough 
woman of the world, seemed to acquiesce quite content- 
edly in this arrangement, and Sir Ralph was always a 
privileged guest at Grove House but Frances was well 
aware that the wound still festered. What woman, desir- 
ing love from some cherished object, would rest content 
with a cool and complacent friendship, interlarded with 
compliments and an occasional admiring glance from a 
pair of dark eyes, which could be eloquent if their owner 
chose ? 

If Sir Ralph, who was an egotist by nature, was too 
much wrapped up in his selfish pleasures and his love 
of uncontrolled freedom to care to make any woman his 
wife, he still liked to enjoy their society and bask in 
their smiles, and in his own fashion he was fond of 
Augusta, though he told himself that she was losing her 
beauty and not wearing well. Sir Ralph would not have 
owned to himself for worlds that it was he who had 
robbed her of her bloom and youth, who had soured her 
temper, and had driven her to allay the fever of her rest- 
lessness by seeking distraction in excitement. Augusta, 
who did not care to bring her fading charms into contact 
with fresh young debutantes in the ball-room, fell back on 
more mature and intellectual pleasures. 

She would open a salon, the Grove House Thursdays 
should become popular. Just lately she had become 
infatuated with Madame Brissac, and a certain Mrs. 
Oscar Nugent who was much interested in spiritualism, 
and both these ladies found an apt pupil in Augusta, 
If one is debarred from purchasing a trousseau, there is 
at least a certain distraction to be found in a seance, and 
some sort of interest can be attached even to a spook. 

Augusta was never quite sure whether she really 
believed in the communication of intelligence from a 
world of spirits, but she liked the sensation of mystery. 
Now and then the thought crossed her mind that con- 
certinas were hardly the musical instruments for spirits 
to play; or table-turning or the rapping on wooden 
surfaces quite the dignified mode of transmitting mes- 


32 


No Friend Like a Sister 


sages to a broken-hearted mourner. But Augusta, who 
was just then cultivating tolerance on all shades of 
opinion, was content to sit in the charmed circle and 
await developments; at least, it occupied her attention 
and afforded her amusement, and then Mrs. Oscar 
Nugent was such a charming woman. 

It was Sir Ralph who was to blame,’' thought 
Frances, with a little spasm of pity for her eldest sister’s 
wasted life and misdirected energies; and then as the 
fire died down her thoughts wandered into another chan- 
nel, — a-jnore practical weighing of ways and means. 

Although Augusta would be terribly annoyed and hurt 
by Elinor’s desertion, she had sufficient means of her 
own to enable her to live on at Grove House if she chose 
to do so, although it was far too large a house for one 
person. Some years before, an aunt had died and left 
Augusta Gresham a handsome legacy, and Frances knew 
that she had at least twelve hundred a year of her own. 
The house belonged to Lyall, but his sisters had always 
lived in it rent free. More than once they had offered to 
pay him a fixed rent, but he had declined to entertain the 
idea for a moment. He was not mercenary by nature, 
and never could be made to understand his own interests. 
He made his wife a good allowance, and by her wish 
she paid a regular sum to Augusta in return for her main- 
tenance, who took it as a matter of course. The little 
dinners and luncheons, and the various entertainments 
in which Augusta’s soul delighted, could not be given 
free of cost ; and sometimes, as she made up her quarterly 
accounts, she wondered at the smallness of her balance. 

Wildcroft, an old house with a farm attached, had 
come to Lyall from an eccentric old bachelor cousin who 
had taken a great fancy to him. Lyall, who was at that 
time preparing for his ordination, had been a little 
embarrassed with his new possession. It was very 
unlikely that he would ever live there ; he had no desire 
to bury himself in a place like Meadow Thorpe. He 
wished rather to work in crowded cities amongst his 
fellow-men, and he knew nothing about farming. He 
went down to Meadow Thorpe as soon as possible, 
and talked things over with his cousin’s solicitor; and 


A Divided Household 


33 


by his advice let the land to a young farmer at Tylcote, 
who had already a small farm of his own there, and was 
anxious to annex Wildcroft, and put in a working bailiff. 

A tenant was also found for the house. A Mrs. 
Shepherd, the sister of the vicar of Dewhurst, a small 
outlying village about a mile from Meadow Thorpe, 
was anxious to take a furnished house in that neighbour- 
hood until her husband's return from India. Both her 
boys were at Rugby; and as her only girl was rather 
delicate, country air had been prescribed for her. Mrs. 
Shepherd had proved a very satisfactory tenant, but dur- 
ing the last October Colonel Shepherd's return and retire- 
ment from the service had obliged them to have a settled 
home, and they had fixed on a house at Chislehurst. 

Neither Frances nor Elinor had ever seen Wildcroft, 
and Lyall's description of his new property had been rather 
vague. Frances felt a little doubtful of the whole pro- 
ceedings. She was afraid such a quiet environment would 
be too great a change from the gaieties of town. A nice 
little flat within comfortable reach of St. Monica’s Lodge 
would be far more suitable, in her opinion. I must really 
speak very seriously to Nora to-morrow," she thought, 
as she at last composed herself to sleep. 

It was never Frances’ way to beat about the bush, and 
as she poured out the coffee the next morning she 
went straight to the point. 

'' I have been thinking over your plan, Nora dear,’’ she 
said quietly, and J am not quite sure that I approve of it. 
If you and Bride want to live in the country, there are so 
many pretty places nearer town — you know how delighted 
we were with Midhurst and Haslemere. Meadow Thorpe 
seems so terribly remote. You know Lyall told us 
that it was four-and-a-half miles from the nearest 
station.’’ 

Oh, of course, we must keep some sort of trap," 
interposed Elinor. 

All the same, it will be very dull in winter," went 
on Frances, who was determined to have her say. “ Why, 
there is not even a village — only two cottages belonging 
to the farm. How are you and Bride going to amuse 
yourselves when you are snowed up, and no one can get 


34 


No Friend Like a Sister 


to you? I daresay it would be all very well during the 
summer, but in winter Wildcroft would be impossible/’ 
Not at all,” returned Elinor, impatient at this cold- 
water douche from her favourite adviser. There is no 
need for you to be so damping, Frances ; it will not hurt 
usTo make the experiment, and as Lyall will probably be 
home in another year or eighteen months, it is only an 
arrangement pro tern” 

'' Oh, in that case ” observed Frances slowly, but 

Elinor interrupted her. 

‘‘ It really seems to me the rruost sensible thing we can 
do under the circumstances. There is the house all 
ready for us, and Lyall will let us live in it rent free. 
I daresay the furniture is a bit shabby and old-fashioned, 
but we don’t mind that in the least. We shall take our 
books and pretty things and all our little treasures ; and 
with new curtains and cretonnes, and perhaps a carpet or 
two we shall look quite smart.” 

‘'Yes, I see,” in a grudging tone, for Frances felt she 
was losing ground ; “ and if you insist on burying your- 
self alive, of course I cannot prevent you from doing so, 
but I don’t much take to the idea of Meadow Thorpe 
myself. It is so terribly isolated. I remember Lyall 
telling us that the nearest neighbour lived a mile away. 
Did he not say, too, something about ruins and a 
churchyard ? ” 

“ Yes, I think so; it was the only thing that seemed to 
interest him, but there is no use talking about a place that 
we have never seen. Look here, Frances dear,” and Elin- 
or’s voice became very coaxing, “ I want you to do some- 
thing nice and sisterly. You know I told you that Bride 
is going to stay with the Nortons at the end of next week. 
She will be away for four or five days at least. I could 
not be left alone with Augusta, and I propose that you 
and I go down to Meadow Thorpe and lead a picnic sort 
of life for two or three days. Oh, Frances, think how 
delicious it will be ; it will be the best bit of fun we have 
had for years, and then we can form some opinion of the 
place.” 

“ It will be looking its worst ; we are not at the end 
of February yet”; but it was evident that in spite of 


A Divided Household 


35 


Frances’ repressive speech that she was strongly tempted. 
I must not decide just now,” she added, a moment later, 
I will let you know in three or four days whether I can 
possibly be spared from the Home, but it will not be 
before Monday week, I am afraid. Will that be too late, 
Nora?” 

‘‘ Monday, the first of March, no that will do very 
well,” returned Elinor in a satisfied tone. I will 
write to Mrs. Deans and tell her to light fires and air 
blankets.” Mrs. Deans was the wife of the working 
bailiff who lived in the cottage adjoining Wildcroft, and 
who had acted as care-taker since the Shepherds had left. 

And I hope she will carry out your instructions,” 
replied Frances, in a laughing tone, for I have no desire 
to have rheumatism from sleeping in a damp bed.” 

I have rather a good idea,” observed Elinor, we 
will take Rachel with us to look after things and make 
us comfortable.” 

But I thought Augusta had sent Rachel away.” 

So she did, and Bride was so vexed that she cried 
about it. Rachel is such a nice, willing girl, and we 
both liked her so much; but Augusta would not listen 
to either of us. She said Rachel had been uncivil to her, 
and she would not keep her in the house; the poor girl 
was so unhappy about it. ‘ Miss Gresham spoke to me 
as though I were the dirt under her feet,’ she said 
to us, ' and then because I would not put up with it, 
she told me I was impertinent and could leave at my 
month, and how I am to get a good place, Miss Elinor, 
with the character she will give me ! ’ and Rachel burst 
out crying.” 

It was too bad of Augusta,” returned Frances, as 
she took up her bunch of keys, but I hope Rachel has 
found a comfortable situation by this time.” 

‘‘ She has not been looking for one just yet,” replied 
Elinor, as her mother was ill ; but I had a letter from 
her yesterday morning to say her mother was better and 
that in a day or two she thought of applying to an agency. 
If we really make up our minds to live at Wildcroft I 
shall engage Rachel as housemaid — she is a country girl, 
you know.” 


36 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Frances nodded, it was growing late. By this time 
she was usually in the wards. I will come over to Grove 
House in three or four days and let you know about 
Monday week,’' she said, patting her sister’s shoulder 
in a friendly manner. ‘'1 will try not to disappoint you, 
Nora dear.” 

'' Oh, I hope not,” sighed Elinor, but in any case 
Rachel and I will go.” For when Elinor made up her 
mind about a thing it was a little difficult to move her. 
Frances knew this very well, for she smiled to herself 
as she left the room. 


V 


Beide 


There are hearts 

So perilously fashion’d, that for them 
God’s touch alone hath gentleness enough 
To waken, — and not break — their thrilling strings. 

F. Hemans. 


Nothing can alter the responsibility which is laid upon each 
soul. — Westcott. 


Bride Gresham was sitting alone in the drawing-room 
at Grove House. At that hour it was rather a rare 
occurrence for either her or Elinor to be in the general 
sitting-room, for they much preferred their upstairs’ 
sanctum; but Bride, who was a little heedless in such 
matters, had let the fire burn too low, and being rather a 
chilly person she could not resist the pleasure of basking in 
the delicious warmth of the glorious piled-up logs in the 
drawing-room grate. Both her sisters-in-law were out. 
Elinor had a little business to transact at the West End, 
and Augusta had driven off an hour previously in the 
smart brougham which she always hired for her own 
use, and which looked so exactly like a private one. 
She intended to pay a round of calls — her ordinary after- 
noon amusement. 

The drawing-room at Grove House was very spacious 
and lofty, and the furniture was handsome and in good 
taste. There were some valuable pictures belonging to 
Lyall, and some beautiful china which was Augusta’s 
special property. People always said that there was 
no other drawing-room at the Boltons so well propor- 
tioned and so thoroughly comfortable. Augusta always 
smiled well-pleased when she heard this. She prided 
herself on her good taste, and even her sisters owned 
that no one could manipulate and arrange furniture to 

37 


38 


No Friend Like a Sister 


better advantage. ^'Augusta has the soul of an uphol- 
steress/' Elinor said once, but the compliment was a 
little doubtful. 

Mrs. Gresham was a graceful young woman, and most 
people thought her interesting looking, though they 
owned that her style was very unusual; but ninety-nine 
out of a hundred denied that she was handsome. Only 
in her husband’s eyes she had always been beautiful. Her 
face was a little thin and her nose rather too long, though 
it was well shaped. She was generally somewhat pale, 
but in moments of excitement a vivid colour would rise 
to her cheeks. At such moments Bride was almost 
brilliant. But her chief beauty was her hair, it was so 
dark that most people thought it was black, and it 
was as glossy as a raven’s wing. She wore it in rather an 
unusual fashion in low wavy bands that almost touched 
her eyebrows, but it somehow suited her and gave her 
a classical look ; the thick coil at the back was 
undoubtedly beautiful, and her eyes, which were also 
dark, had very long lashes. Bride had a curious trick, 
though it was quite natural to her, of dropping her 
eyelids when people addressed her, and then giving them 
a quick, bright, upward glance, which was very sudden 
and electrifying. In reality it was shyness, but Augusta’s 
friends agreed with her that young Mrs. Gresham was 
extremely affected. ''A married woman should get rid 
of these little mannerisms,” Mrs. Oscar Nugent once 
observed severely, it is such a pity, my dear Augusta, 
that your sister-in-law should behave like a school-girl,” 
but Augusta only shrugged her shoulders. 

Bride was perfectly impossible ; I think her manners 
get worse, and she is so touchy that one cannot speak 
to her. I never could see why Lyall fell in love with 
her. To me she is positively plain,” for Augusta was 
only too willing to discuss her sister-in-law with her 
special cronies. Bride was so thoroughly antagonistic 
to her, that she had seldom a good word for her. “ Elinor 
spoils her dreadfully,” she would remark fretfully. 

Bride’s existence at Grove House was hardly an 
enviable one ; but for Elinor it would have been simply 
unbearable. But though she was both frank and out- 


Bride 


39 


spoken in her denunciation of Augusta’s unkindness and 
want of sympathy, she could not deny that she had 
placed herself in a false position. 

Bride’s nature was sincere enough to own where the 
fatal mistake lay, which had wrecked, at least temporarily, 
the happiness of herself and Lyall. How could she be 
sure that he could ever bring himself to forgive her 
unnatural desertion of him ? Why had she married 
him ? ” Bride was for ever asking herself that question. 
She was of an age to know her own mind; but his 
passion had so dominated her that it had seemed as 
though a whirlwind had carried her off her feet. He 
had given her no time to question her own heart. Lyall’s 
ardent love-making had dazed and flattered her. He 
was so good, so kind, his sisters were always telling her 
so. Why should she be afraid to entrust herself to him? 
Nevertheless, as Bride had uttered those solemn vows 
at the altar she had shaken like an aspen in her remorseful 
fear. ‘‘ If I were ever to repent ! ” she said to herself as 
they drove off from the church. 

Alas, before many weeks were over, the glamour of 
that strange love-making was over, and Bride, in the 
depths of her undisciplined heart, knew that she would 
have given all she possessed if she could only have 
regained her freedom. Elinor was her only confidante; 
but to her she did not say all. How could an unmarried 
woman understand the difficulties of a wedded wife 
who respected her husband, and yet knew that her love 
was a poor, meagre thing compared to his? No, it was 
clearly impossible that Elinor should understand this. 

Lyall is such a dear, he is so good and brave and 
unselfish,” Elinor had said once to her in those early 
troubled days. Sometimes I think he is almost perfect.” 
Then Bride had pounced in hawk-like fashion on this last 
word. 

'' That is just the difficulty, Nora,” she replied, and 
there was a world of sadness in her voice. Bride had 
a charming voice. ‘‘ Lyall is too perfect for me. How 
is a poor, little, faulty, human creature like myself to live 
beside him? A dwarf can’t keep step with a giant. Do 
you know, when I am naughty, I always feel like the 


40 


No Friend Like a Sister 


little street boy who asked the tall Grenadier how he 
felt up there! I want to ask Lyall the same question/’ 
Bride, how can you be so absurd ? ” 

‘‘ Oh I am quite serious, dearest, only you are so 
good yourself that you don’t understand. Lyall breathes 
a different and more rarefied air than I do. I am all in 
the fogs and mists. I want to drag him down to my 
level, to have him take comfortable, easy, commonplace 
views ; but one can’t move him. He is dreaming dreams 
and seeing visions, and one cannot even reach him.” 
And there was concealed bitterness in Bride’s sweet voice. 

And then had come the crucial test, when Bride had 
so failed in her wifely duty, when Lyall set off on his 
crusade of duty alone, leaving his young wife behind him. 
'' Bride will follow me by and by,” was all he said to 
his sisters, for he was too loyal to his wife to speak of 
her faults to them. '' You must take care of her for me.” 

It was a bitter awakening to Lyall, but he was man 
enough to own the truth. Bride had never really loved 
him, or she would not have treated him in this fashion. 
“ It would have been better for both of us if you had been 
firm in your refusal to marry me,” he had said to her 
sternly, ‘‘ but it is too late now.” And Bride had been too 
sick with shame and misery to answer him. Bride never 
tried to defend herself to Lyall. Perhaps if she had 
spoken out to him, he might have understood her a 
little better; but she could never muster up courage. 
It would have angered him more, she thought, if he knew 
how much she feared him ; how even his tenderness 
failed to reassure her. Bride, who was not a strong 
woman, had troublesome nerves that sometimes played 
her false. It was in a moment of unreasoning panic 
that she had implored Lyall to leave her behind. ‘‘ I shall 
be miserable,” she sobbed, how am I to help my nature ? 
If you had told me that you intended to be a missionary 
I would never have married you. I am not fit for such a 
life, and you know it, Lyall.” 

Yes, he knew it now, he told her bitterly, when it was 
too late to alter things. He had given his word, and he 
must go, but he would not compel her to go too; if 
she wished to do so, she could remain with his sisters. 


Bride 


41 


''Yes/' she had returned eagerly, "and you can send 
for me by and by. I will come then, Lyall, I will indeed." 
But two years had passed since then, and Lyall had not 
summoned her to his side; and when, three months 
previously, she had suggested coming out to him, he had 
quietly but decidedly rejected her offer. Strange to 
say. Bride made herself very unhappy over that letter, 
and she was still extremely sore on the subject. 

That afternoon Bride was dreaming dreams too, only 
her visions were hardly pleasant ones. For once her novel 
proved flavourless, and lay face downward on her lap. A 
strenuous, eager, young face seemed to rise before her; 
sad, reproachful eyes were gazing at her. " How could 
you have the heart to do it ? " they seemed to say. 

Bride sighed restlessly, and then the little black Pom- 
eranian dog, curled up on her dress, gave a shrill bark, 
and the next moment a tall, well-dressed woman entered 
the room unannounced. 

" I hope I am not disturbing you. Bride," observed a 
friendly voice; then young Mrs. Gresham sprang from 
her chair with an exclamation of pleasure. 

"Is it really you, Frances?" she exclaimed in a tone 
of relief. " I was afraid it was Augusta." Then Frances 
laughed as she returned Bride's warm embrace. 

" Poor old Augusta, I suppose she is doing her usual 
treadmill business. I wonder how many flights of steps 
she ascends and descends in one afternoon ? I hope Nora 
will not be out long." 

" I hardly know. Her new hat does not quite suit her, 
and she has gone to Hobart Place to interview Madame 
Mersac, but she promised to come straight back. Sit 
down, Frances, and I will ring for Perry to bring tea. 
How nice you look, dear," then Frances, who was stand- 
ing by the fire taking off her gloves, swept a graceful little 
curtsey at Bride's pretty speech. " Bride liked to lay on 
the butter rather thickly," her sister-in-law would say. 

Sister Gresham always dressed well, she knew exactly 
the shade which would suit her dark complexion. In 
winter she usually wore dark red, or a warm brown, and 
she liked the relief of velvet or fur. Most people thought 
Frances looked best in her sister's dress, but they could 


42 


No Friend Like a Sister 


not deny that in her secular garb she was rather a dis- 
tinguished-looking woman. She had great dignity and 
ease of manner; and even Augusta, who rarely praised 
her sisters, was more than once heard to say that Frances 
knew how to make the best of herself, and would even 
condescend to consult her on the trimming of a new 
evening dress. 

Frances talked on cheerfully, as Bride busied herself 
over the tea-table. Bride’s pale cheeks and air of lassi- 
tude were very perceptible to her, but she thought it 
wiser to take no notice. As she drank her tea and fed 
Scrap with morsels of sponge-cake, she told Bride that 
her patient was making satisfactory progress, and that 
she hoped to go down with Nora to Meadow Thorpe the 
following Monday for three days. But I am afraid I 
shall bring back an evil report of the place,” she finished ; 
then a distressed look came to Bride’s face. 

‘‘ Oh, I hope you are going to be nice about it, Frances 
dear,” she returned plaintively. '' Nora thinks so much of 
your opinion, and if you do not like Wildcroft she will 
be half-hearted about the whole thing.” 

Tell me why you want to go there. Bride,” asked 
Frances gently, but Bride seemed unwilling to be ques- 
tioned. She was fond of the country, she said vaguely, 
and she wanted to be quiet ; they were both so sick of all 
the bustle and gaiety. Augusta would not attempt to 
follow them down there, they were quite sure of that. 

Gussie hated the country,” she went on, she liked a 
smart up-to-date watering-place, where she could meet 
her friends, — or to go abroad. There was some talk of the 
Engadine for this year, she believed, but both she and 
Nora had agreed that even Switzerland with Augusta 
and Madame Brissac would be doubtful pleasure. We 
are so tired of going abroad with Augusta,” went on 
Bride fretfully. '' It is nothing but a grind from morning 
to night. She is so strong herself that she never under- 
stands why other people should be tired, and she never 
tries to find out what we wish to do. No, my dear,” con- 
cluded Bride with a curl of her lip, '' a personally-con- 
ducted party under Augusta’s leadership is certainly not 
enjoyable.” 


Bride 


43 


‘‘ I daresay you are right/’ returned Frances. '' I felt 
much the same that year we went to Rome; but there 
are other places, as I told Nora.” 

‘‘ Yes, there are other places, of course,” observed 
Bride, but we have a fancy to try Meadow Thorpe.” 
Bride spoke a little hesitatingly, and her manner sug- 
gested that she could say more if she chose. What if 
she had an odd fancy for living in Lyall’s house, that a 
secret wish to do penance for her unwifely conduct 
tempted her to bury herself in this quiet country spot. 

Lyall will not think I am amusing myself, and leading 
a gay life, while he is working himself to death,” she 
had said to Nora, and Elinor had understood. 

Frances would have understood too, if Bride would 
have taken her into confidence. She was really very 
fond of her young sister-in-law. She looked at her 
curiously while Bride talked. ‘‘ There are other reasons,” 
she said to herself ; in some way she is trying to please 
Lyall. She thinks he will be glad for her to live at 
Meadow Thorpe.” 

Frances had no opportunity of questioning her further, 
for Scrap barked again rather loudly, and the next 
minute Augusta came in, followed by Perry. 

Augusta Gresham always gave herself the airs of the 
mistress of the house. She was rather exacting with the 
servants, and expected them to wait on her. Perry would 
have been chid rather sharply if she had not been ready 
to relieve her mistress of her heavy sealskin. To judge 
from Perry’s machine-like movements it was hardly a 
labour of love, but Miss Gresham paid good wages, and 
the situation had its advantages. 

'' How do you do, Frances! ” observed Augusta coldly, 
when she had got rid of her heavy coat. In reality she 
was not pleased to see her sister; things were uncom- 
fortable enough, and Frances was not likely to gloss 
over matters. Augusta rather dreaded Frances’ down- 
right speeches, and then she would be sure to side with 
Nora and Bride. These reflections added to the un- 
graciousness of Augusta’s manner. She had had a 
tiresome afternoon, — all the people she had wanted to 
see had been out, and all the bores had been at home. She 


44 


No Friend Like a Sister 


was already ruffled and weary, and now the evening 
would be spoiled. 

I had no idea Nora and Bride were expecting you,’' 
she continued a little crossly, '' but they might have told 
me so.” 

Neither of them expected me,” returned Frances 
cheerfully, for she had her own reasons for not wishing 
to quarrel with her eldest sister. I found myself with a 
few hours leisure, so I thought I would come over. I 
suppose I may stay to dinner, Gussie, I need not be 
back until half-past ten ? ” 

Oh, you can please yourself,” returned Augusta, but 
it was evident to both of them that she was somewhat 
embarrassed by Frances’ request. ‘‘We shall not be by 
ourselves this evening,” flushing slightly, “ for we are 
expecting Mrs. Oscar Nugent and Sir Ralph Peyton. I 
was just going to send round a note to Madame Brissac, 
but ” — with a little forced laugh — “ if you stay, Frances, 
our number will be complete.” 

Frances was about to accept this grudging invitation 
when Bride interposed; she looked extremely indignant. 

“ Nora has no idea that any one is coming to dinner,” 
she observed ; “ I think you might have informed us of 
the fact, Augusta.” 

“ There is no need for you to be so injured. Bride,” 
returned Miss Gresham coolly; “I was just going to 
mention it at breakfast time, only something put it out of 
my head.” 

“ But there was luncheon,” persisted Bride. 

“ Oh, I was in a hurry, and after all what did it matter, 
— two such intimate friends as Laura Nugent and Sir 
Ralph.” Augusta’s manner was sufflciently exasperating. 

Bride could not trust herself to answer. She rose 
from her chair with an offended air and tucked Scrap 
under her arm. “ I will tell Burney to get your room 
ready, Frances,” she said in a low voice. “ You will find 
me upstairs when you want me ” — and Bride swept out 
of the room with the air of a tragedy queen. 


VI 


“ No Friend Like a Sister ” 

’Tis but brother’s speech we need, 

Speech where an accent’s change gives each 
The other’s soul. 

Browning. 


Too much love there can be never. 

Browning. 

The little hearts that know not how to forgive. 

Tennyson. 

There was rather an awkward silence between the 
sisters when the door closed, and then Frances said, very 
quietly, '' I do not wonder that things have come to such 
a crisis ; you are taking too much upon yourself, Gussie. 
You remember, I told you some time ago, when I 
begged you to show more respect to Bride’s feelings. How 
can you expect that either she or Nora would tamely 
submit to all you choose to put upon them ! ” 

Frances spoke quite calmly, but there was a dangerous 
spark in her eyes. She was quite aware, as she delivered 
her straight hit, that Augusta was revenging herself for 
her sisters’ declaration of independence, by planning this 
deliberate insult. If they chose to shake off the yoke 
of her authority she would show them how well she 
could do without them ; in a word, she had determined to 
ignore them, and to make herself disagreeable. There 
is no demon more powerful than the demon of temper 
and an arrogant will, which for the time seems to crush 
and deaden the gentler emotions of the nature. 

Augusta had gone too far, and she knew it ; and deep 
down in her heart she bitterly repented her imprudence 
in sending out those cards, but her pride would not allow 
her to own this. She had even seriously considered 
whether it would not be wise to yield to circumstances 
and act on Elinor’s advice, but in an evil moment she had 

45 


46 


No Friend Like a Sister 


consulted Mrs. Oscar Nugent, and the result had been 
that the waste-paper basket remained empty. 

What nonsense, my dear Augusta,'’ her friend had 
returned. “ Excuse me, my love, but Elinor is a little 
fool, and you are another if you let her force your hand 
in this way. You had better go through with it, that is 
my advice, and when they see you are firm they will 
just give in. Elinor is far too soft to fight a prolonged 
campaign; in two or three weeks they will come to 
their senses and be ready to make terms with you." 
And this advice so entirely coincided with Augusta's 
secret wishes that she tried to believe that dear Laura 
would be a true prophet. Augusta committed another 
grievous mistake, she was so deeply offended with her 
sisters that she made no attempt to conciliate them. On 
the contrary, she was so stung and exasperated by their 
steady resistance and quiet avoidance of her society, that 
the desire of revenge became stronger. 

Each day the breach widened, and Augusta grew more 
angry and embittered. She was no longer sure that she 
wished them to remain. They might go if they liked, 
but they should see that she intended to be mistress. 

'' I was quite sure that you would side with them," 
she said coldly when Frances uttered her protest, '' so 
it is useless for us to discuss the matter. Indeed, I 
should not wonder if you had instigated Nora to behave 
in this ridiculous fashion." 

On the contrary," returned Frances steadily, but she 
spoke without temper, ‘‘ I was completely in the dark 
until Nora came over to St. Monica's Lodge and told 
me, to my intense surprise, that she and Bride intended to 
leave Grove House; that they wished for a peaceful 
home and freedom to live their own lives without bick- 
erings and heart-burnings." 

‘‘And of course you told Nora how entirely you ap- 
proved of her unsisterly conduct ; please speak the truth, 
Frances." 

“ Do I ever do otherwise ? " with a smile that added to 
Augusta's sense of injury, for there is nothing so pro- 
voking as seeing another person cool when one is losing 
one's temper. “As I told you, Gussie, I was extremely 


No Friend Like a Sister 


47 


surprised, but when I came to think over matters I 
felt immensely relieved that the break had been made. 
I am not sure that I quite approve of the Meadow Thorpe 
plan, but that is a detail. But honestly, I do think that 
you will all three be happier for taking this step.’' 

Augusta was too angry to reply. She walked to the 
fireplace under pretext of stirring the fire, but her hand 
was not steady, and one of the blazing logs fell into the 
fender with a crash. At the impatient exclamation that 
followed the accident Frances quietly went to her sister’s 
aid, and took the tongs from her hand. Go and sit 
down, Gussie,” she said with kind peremptoriness, '' you 
are just tired out, and I love above all things to build up a 
wood fire,” and actually Augusta took this sensible piece 
of advice. 

She was deadly tired, for the inward fever of discon- 
tent and baffled desires preyed slowly but surely on her 
strength. “ There is no rest for the wicked,” says the 
inspired prophet; but it is also true that there is no real 
rest for those unhappy natures who refuse to accept 
their daily cross, with its limitations and denials, its 
small hourly sacrifices to the shrine of duty; for the 
egotist walks for ever in his or her own shadow, and to 
them there is no warmth of real heart sunshine. 

For those who truly live must be for ever giving out 
of their abundance, not asking or expecting a return, 
their hearthfires may be cold, and they themselves chilled 
at times as they try vainly to rekindle the dying embers 
that were once so glowing; but even in their sadness 
they are ready to stretch out their hands to help some 
other weary wayfarer, and as they do so, lo, the fire is 
kindled and they are no longer comfortless. 

Augusta Gresham had refused to learn her life lessons, 
the leaven of discontent had permeated her nature, and 
made her a lonely and embittered woman. 

Ten years ago she had been a handsome, high-spirited 
girl; but the strain and stress of life had robbed her 
of her bloom and dimmed her brightness ; and though at 
thirty-four she was still a handsome and distinguished- 
looking woman, a certain hardness of expression and 
imperiousness of manner deprived her of a great deal 


48 


Xo Friend Like a Sister 


of her charm. People began to say that Miss Gresham 
gave herself airs, and laid down the law too much. She 
was clever, — undoubtedly clever, — but there was some- 
thing unstable about her. Her restlessness and odd 
cranks worried her old friends, and secretly amused her 
new ones ; they liked her, but they laughed at her all 
the same. The great Augusta,’’ or The august Lady,” 
they would call her; but to Sir Ralph it was always 
'' Poor old Augusta,” as he watched her under his eyelids. 
Poor Augusta, indeed! She was quite aware of those 
furtive side glances that followed her as she moved 
amongst her guests, smiling, well-dressed — the very per- 
fection of a hostess. Perhaps the secret consciousness of 
the one beloved presence stimulated and inspired her, for 
there were times when the old brightness came back to her 
eyes. At such moments Augusta was handsomer than ever. 

When Frances had manipulated the fire to her own 
satisfaction she knelt still on the rug, looking thought- 
fully at her sister. Augusta had taken off her hat, and 
was leaning back in her easy-chair. One hand was shield- 
ing her face from the flame. She looked unusually pale, 
and there was a drawn, almost a pained expression round 
the mouth that moved Frances to pity. She leaned for- 
ward and touched the hand that lay listlessly in her lap. 

Gussie,” she said earnestly, you must not think 
that I do not feel for you, that I would not help you if I 
could ; after all we are sisters.” But Augusta did not 
respond to the tenderness in Frances’ tone. Like the 
Egyptian king of old, she had hardened her heart.” 

''Sisters!” she said bitterly. "Yes; that is the pity 
of it. I wonder why my sisters are so different from 
other people that they give me so little sympathy that 
I am obliged to find solace in strangers ? ” 

"Dear Augusta,” returned Frances gently, "are you 
sure that it is all our fault ? How often have you 
repelled our advances and refused your confidence ! 
Again and again, before I left home, I implored you to 
trust your sisters, and to be a little more loving. But 
no,” speaking still more earnestly, " you allowed your 
self-will and pride to blind your eyes ; you took strangers 
to your heart. Gussie, be honest with yourself for once, 


No Friend Like a Sister 


49 


you know you have yourself to blame, and that neither 
I nor Elinor, nor Bride have wronged you/’ 

I cannot talk,” returned Augusta sullenly, “ my head 
aches and I must not upset myself, or I shall not be fit 
for my social duties. I wish you had not come, Frances. 
I daresay you mean well,” trying to release herself from 
the strong, warm grasp that kept her prisoner, but it 
only makes things worse to discuss them. In my opinion 
Elinor and Bride are treating me shamefully. They 
are leaving me alone in this great house, while they go 
off to pastures new. They are selfish and heartless, 
and you may tell them so if you like.” 

I don’t think I will do that, Gussie.” 

No, I daresay not ; for you all hang together like 
a bundle of faggots — you three and Lyall. All these 
years you have left me out in the cold. 

But I do not care,” her voice growing thin and 
sharp ; you may all leave me if you please. Thank 
Heaven, I am not without resources and friends. If this 
house is too large I shall leave it, but for the present 
I intend to remain. Now, will you please let me go, 
Frances? I am in no good mood for play-acting or any 
hypocritical pretence of affection.” 

It was a bitter speech, but Frances had herself well 
under control. She took her hands quietly from her 
sister’s wrist, and then stooping, kissed her cheek. 

You may be as repellent as you choose, Gussie,” 
she said quietly, but you cannot prevent me from being 
very sorry for you. Perhaps you will be glad to know this, 
‘A brother is born for adversity,’ — oh, that is so true, 
so sweetly true, — and perhaps some day you will find 
out for yourself that ‘ There is no friend like a sister in 
calm or stormy weather.’ Now I must go and make 
myself beautiful for your dinner company,” and Frances 
moved quickly to the door. 

Once she turned, thinking Augusta had called her by 
name ; but no, it was only her fancy. Augusta was sitting 
upright, rubbing the reddened wrist which had suffered a 
little in Frances’ muscular grasp ; but as she sat in the big, 
handsome room, which suddenly felt so empty, Augusta’s 
hard, bright eyes grew suddenly dim and moist. 

4 


50 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Oh, I am so miserable,’’ she sighed, '' a more unhappy, 
lonely woman never lived.” Then her glance fell on 
a certain sapphire ring that she always wore on her right 
hand. Five years ago Sir Ralph had given it to her on her 
birthday. '' All your friends give you presents, and why 
should not I do so?” he had said to her. We have 
always been chums, and I should like you to wear it.” 
And though Augusta had hesitated, and her conscience 
had told her to give it back to him, the temptation was 
too strong for her. But she never told any one who 
had given her the ring, only Frances guessed the truth. 

Sir Ralph was the donor,” she said to Elinor. I 
am as certain of it as though I saw the ring-case in his 
hand. Gussie ought never to have accepted it, but on 
this point she is certainly crazy.” 

Frances peeped first into the sitting-room, but she 
was too late, and the bird had flown; so she went to 
her old room, which was always kept ready for her 
use. Here there was a clear little fire burning, and 
some pair of thoughtful hands had laid out her dinner 
dress. Frances always kept a couple of evening-dresses 
at Grove House. She never needed such things at St. 
Monica’s Lodge, but her visits home were generally 
paid in the afternoon or evening, and as they were 
seldom free from Augusta’s visitors, a decent garment 
must be forthcoming. 

Frances, who was something of a humorist, alway^ 
classified these gowns as the little Go ” and '' Greats,*’ 
one being much smarter and more elaborate than the 
other. Bride has fixed on ' the little Go,’ ” she said 
to herself as she glanced at the bed ; good child, the 
other would be far too smart.” 

Frances always looked well in evening-dress; she 
generally wore black, but she was also fond of a special 
shade of amber, softened with black lace. All her gowns 
were chic and up to date, but they also had the stamp 
of individuality — '' Frances’ dresses always seem to 
belong to her, somehow,” Bride would say. 

Frances laughed when this remark reached her ears, 
but she was full of theories on the subject of clothes. 
One article in her feminine creed was that no woman 


No Friend Like a Sister 


51 


need consider herself hopelessly unattractive if she 
dressed well. There are very few irredeemably ugly 
people in the world/’ she once observed, and even a 
plain woman can look nice if she only takes a little 
trouble about her appearance. People do not seem to 
understand the art of dress,” she went on, waxing 
eloquent on her favourite theme, — they have not an 
idea of the harmony of shades and tints. They are like 
the school children who choose bright colours for their 
samplers, they are often terribly crude. Don’t we all 
know the woman who is fond of pink, who adores 
pink roses, and chiffons, and wears them blandly with 
preposterous shades of green and blue? Well,” as Elinor 
nodded and laughed, I look upon these misguided 
females as regular dunces, who ought to be sent down 
to the bottom of the class. With their glaring mixture 
of tints they are in the same category as the coster- 
monger’s young woman, who delights in loading her 
hat with flowers, finished off by long mangy feathers. She 
considers it fetching, so does her Jem,” but here a shudder 
of disgust pointed the moral. 

Frances had only taken out her long hat pins, when 
there was a knock at the door and Elinor entered. 

Was it not strange,” she said, rather breathlessly, 
as she greeted her sister, '' I had a presentiment that I 
should find you here? The thought came to me as I 
walked from the station, ‘ Suppose Frances is there.’ ” 

'' I expect that was transmission of thought, but you 
are very late, Nora.” 

'' Yes, I know. Madame Mersac kept me so long 
waiting, and then there was a block on the line, and I 
got into a regular fidget for fear I should not be in time. 
You know,” with a sudden change of tone, “ that Mrs. 
Oscar Nugent and Sir Ralph are coming to dinner ! ” 

'' Yes ; Gussie told me so.” 

Mrs. Oscar Nugent lives here, and so does Madame 
Brissac,” continued Elinor ; but of the two, I think 
Laura Nugent is less objectionable; at least, one has 
more pleasure in looking at her. But, Frances, would 
you believe, I never knew until five minutes ago that any 
one was expected to dinner! Bride has only just told 


52 


No Friend Like a Sister 


me. Is it not shameful of Augusta? If you had not been 
here, I think I should have refused to go down.’’ 

Then I am very glad I have come to keep the peace. 
Don’t worry about it now ; it was extremely discourteous 
on Augusta’s part, but there is no good quarrelling over 
spilt milk. Gussie wished to be aggravating; but if 
you take it coolly and as a matter of course, the whole 
thing will fall flat. There is not a moment to spare, 
and you must really go and dress. We will try and get 
a little talk after dinner, and leave Bride to do the polite.” 

‘‘ I would so much rather have stayed and talked to 
you now,” returned Elinor ruefully; but Frances turned 
a deaf ear to this. 

‘‘ Duty first and pleasure afterwards,” she said with an 
affectionate glance. “ Remember that I have to make 
myself nice ; one does not meet a Christian Scientist 
every day in the week, not to mention a real live baronet 
with a pedigree as long as himself.” And then Frances 
turned with such resolute air to the toilet table, that 
Elinor was forced to beat a retreat. 

‘‘ It is always the way,” she grumbled to herself, I 
never can have Frances in peace when she comes home. 
There are a hundred things I want to say to her this 
evening.” 

Poor Nora, it is really very hard on her,” thought 
Frances, as she smoothed her roughened hair; ‘'I wish 
I could do more for her and Bride.” Frances felt 
strangely stirred by her talk with Augusta, and her 
mood was unusually soft and tender. Christina Rosetti’s 
beautiful words again crossed her mind, and half aloud 
she finished the quotation she had begun to Augusta : 

‘‘ For there is no friend like a sister 
In calm and stormy weather; 

To cheer one on the tedious way, 

To fetch one if one goes astray, 

To lift one if one totters down, 

To strengthen whilst one stands. 

Those words are so sweet,” she said to herself, and 
very often they are true; but there are sisters and 
sisters, and certainly Elinor and Augusta are as far apart 
as the poles.” 


An Evening at Grove House 


If we knew the story of men^s lives, the hidden loads they are 
carrying ofttimes for others, the unhealed sore in their heart, 
we would have most gentle patience with them. Life is hard 
for most people, certainly hard enough without our adding to 
its burdens by our censoriousness, our uncharity, our jeering 
and contempt. — R ev. J. R. Millar. 

Frances had been so hindered that when she went 
downstairs she found the guests had already arrived. 
Neither Bride nor Elinor had made their appearance, and 
from the expression on Augusta’s face she felt sure 
that she herself was blamed for their delay. ‘‘ My sisters 
do not add punctuality to their other virtues,” Augusta 
had said half-play fully, but Frances knew that there was 
a secret sting under the words. Augusta never showed 
temper before Sir Ralph. Frances took no notice; she 
shook hands quietly with Sir Ralph as she passed him, 
and then sat down by Mrs. Oscar Nugent and began 
talking to her. 

There was no love lost between Frances and Sir Ralph 
Peyton. From the first she had quietly but steadily 
repelled any approach to intimacy on his part, and in a 
polite way had made him understand that his constant 
visits to Grove House did not meet with her approval. 
If she could have had her will he should never have 
crossed the threshold again. 

In her heart Frances blamed him not only for her 
sister’s marred and wasted life, but she knew that in 
a great measure the want of harmony in the home and 
the deplorable lack of sympathy between the sisters 
were owing to his malign influence; but she was also 
aware that like Gallio, Sir Ralph ‘^cared for none of these 
things.” She could not deny that he had an attractive 
personality, and that his manner was seductive and fasci- 

53 


54 


No Friend Like a Sister 


nating. He was undoubtedly handsome, and there was a 
high-bred air about him. 

He had many social gifts, and though not in the 
least intellectual, had travelled much, and was a clever 
and amusing raconteur. Men always said he was a 
good fellow, and if he had his faults, well, every one had 
his little weaknesses — and then the ladies encouraged 
him. They ought to know by this time that Peyton 
was not a marrying man. In their opinion Sir Ralph's 
platonic friendships were perfectly harmless, and they 
were quite ready to whitewash him. It was a far less dan- 
gerous pastime than playing unlimited games of bridge 
or nap at his club. The half-dozen dear friends — married 
or single^ — who opened the doors of their boudoirs to 
him and gave him their sympathy and confidence were 
only playing a gentle little sentimental game with the 
fascinating baronet. It was a pity, as some one remarked, 
that Augusta Gresham did not follow their example. 
It was a mistake to be so much in earnest, it spoiled the 
pleasure of the game; in some games hearts do not 
always turn up trumps ! 

More than once Frances glanced across at her sister 
with a feeling akin to wonderment. The sullen look had 
vanished from Augusta's face, her eyes were bright and 
she was slightly flushed; she looked younger and hand- 
somer, and it angered Frances to see that Sir Ralph was 
quite conscious of the fact. 

He was leaning back in his chair and listening to 
her, as Augusta talked with her old animation. How 
well you are looking this evening," she heard him say in 
a low vibrating tone, but she lost the remainder of his 
sentence. 

Frances rather liked Mrs. Oscar Nugent, though she 
did not wholly trust her; but she always found her 
pleasant and amusing, and to a certain limited extent 
they got on very well together. Mrs. Nugent was a fair 
pretty-looking woman ; indeed, many of her friends con- 
sidered her lovely. Augusta, who was simply infatuated 
with her, thought her perfect. She was always beautifully 
dressed, and, in spite of a slight languor of manner, she 
was exceedingly charming, and Frances liked to watch 


An Evening at Grove House 


55 


her while she talked. She is wonderfully picturesque/’ 
she said once to Elinor, arid she actually believes in her 
amazing creed, at least she thinks she does, but all the 
same she poses unconsciously.” 

Oh, she is extremely affected, if you mean that,” 
returned Elinor, who had grown very tired of Mrs. 
Oscar Nugent. 

No, I should not call her affected,” observed Frances ; 
she is vapourish and unreal, but she does not know 
herself that she poses. She is used to an admiring 
audience, and she enjoys having her disciples at her 
feet, and she likes sensation and emotion. It would 
have been better for her if her husband had lived; he 
would have laughed her out of her Christian Science 
and Spiritualism. He was a sensible man. Lady Tem- 
pleton had the greatest respect for him.” 

‘‘ He was a doctor was he not ? ” 

“ Yes, and a great authority on nervous diseases. He 
was twelve or fifteen years older than his wife, and 
Lady Templeton said he was exceedingly proud of her. 
If she had only had a child; but a rich and attrac- 
tive young widow, with plenty of brain power and a 
lamentable want of ballast, is pretty sure to get into 
mischief; and so we have the present singular product 
before us.” 

‘‘ Oh, I am sick of her,” returned Elinor impatiently ; 
and she refused to discuss Mrs. Oscar Nugent any longer. 
Frances was so terribly fond of anatomising people: 
she liked to pick them to pieces, to disintegrate their 
motives and springs of action. There was nothing more 
interesting, she declared, than studying people’s char- 
acters. “ When I meet with a person who excites my 
curiosity, or who appears to me an uncommon type, 
I like to classify him or her in my own mind, and to be 
sure the label is correct.” But Elinor only laughed at 
her and called her a moral Paul Pry. There was one 
bond of sympathy between Frances and Mrs. Oscar 
Nugent, they neither of them believed in Sir Ralph 
Peyton. 

A year or two before Sir Ralph had paid a good 
deal of attention to the young widow; but Mrs. Oscar 


56 


No Friend Like a Sister 


showed no desire of a platonic friendship with a man 
of his calibre. '' He is of the earth earthy/' she said 
once ; but she was very civil to him all the same. 

The gong sounded just as Bride and Elinor entered 
the room. Elinor hastily apologised to Mrs. Nugent. 

'' I am so sorry to be late, but there was a breakdown 
on the line, and as I had no idea any one was coming 
this evening, I did not hurry myself " — Elinor repeated 
her little speech with a heightened colour. 

Augusta bit her lip with annoyance as she heard it. 
'‘We may as well go in," she said hastily to Sir Ralph ; 
" you know we never stand on formality." And Sir 
Ralph nodded as he followed the ladies. 

Thanks to Frances, there was no dearth of sensible 
conversation during dinner. She was determined that 
no uncomfortable topics should be discussed. She had 
been reading a very interesting book on India, and she 
knew that Sir Ralph had stayed there for six or seven 
months. She began questioning him on the subject of 
Indian gardens, and from that she veered to the dangers 
and delights of tiger shooting. 

This was Sir Ralph's hobby, in a moment he became 
interested and eloquent; he told first a thrilling and 
then an amusing adventure; by the time dessert had 
arrived he had landed them in a Buddhist monastery, 
where a monk in yellow garments with a shaven head 
had ministered to the weary, half-fainting sportsmen. 

Frances with her customary tact had set the ball 
rolling, but both she and Mrs. Oscar Nugent were 
genuinely interested in the recital. It was much later 
than usual when they rose from the table, and as Frances 
had no intention of re-entering the drawing-room, she 
detained Augusta on the threshold. 

" I am going to say good-night to you now, Gussie," 
she observed, " for I want to talk to Elinor and I cannot 
stay much longer; please excuse me to your friends. 
Come, Nora"; and Frances led the way to the cosy 
upstairs sitting-room where Elinor and Bride spent most 
of their time. 

" That was a grand move of yours ! " exclaimed Elinor. 
" Oh, I do hope Bride does not mean to join us ! " 


57 


An Evening at Grove House 

If she does, I shall send her away,'' returned Frances ; 
‘‘ Bride has had her innings, and now it is your turn. 
Now, let us make the most of our half-hour. I shall be 
able to come with you to Wildcroft on Monday, Nora, and 
I think I can stay until Friday." 

'' Why not make it Saturday ? " in a coaxing voice. 

‘‘ Oh, we will see about that," returned Frances evas- 
ively. '' Nurse Williams is right, and I am certainly a 
little tired and done up; as you know, we have been 
short-handed and have had some anxious cases. I be- 
lieve I shall be all the better for a little rest." 

You certainly look rather fagged," observed Elinor. 
‘^And you have been exerting yourself all dinner-time; 
you never spare yourself, Frances." 

'' Do you think any woman with my physique and 
constitution ought to spare herself?" replied Frances in 
her brisk, cheery way. You know I have my work and 
would not be without it for worlds — just compare my 
life with poor Augusta's." 

I am not sure that Gussie would change places with 
you to-night." 

'' Perhaps not to-night," returned Frances a little sadly; 
'' but to-morrow, when Sir Ralph is no longer with her. 
Nora, it almost sickened me to watch Gussie this evening 
— to see her brightening and blushing whenever he spoke 
to her like the veriest little school-girl. He just hypno- 
tises her. To think that all these years she has suffered 
herself to be dragged at the chariot wheels of that man's 
vanity — oh, it is intolerable ! " and Frances' dark com- 
plexion was suffused with indignant colour. How can 
any woman so forget her dignity as to allow herself to be 
advertised as the captive of his bow and spear ! Platonic 
friendship indeed " — Frances' shapely foot tapped angrily 
against the floor — ‘‘ on his part — yes, there is no douM of 
that, but what about Gussie!" 

‘‘ I am afraid she is very much in love with him still," 
replied Elinor reluctantly. 

Ah, you may well say that. Poor dear Augusta 
— all her life she has asked for her woman's portion of 
sweet, wholesome, nourishing bread, and he has smilingly 
offered her a stone. Can you wonder that she is not 


58 


No Friend Like a Sister 


satisfied, that she has grown hard and restless, and that 
her temper is soured? You and Bride must be patient 
with her, for she needs your pity/' 

I hope you do not think that we are unkind in leaving 
her ? " asked Elinor, vaguely alarmed by her sister's 
manner. 

'' Oh, no, that was not my meaning at all. I told 
Gussie that I thought the break would be good for her 
too. You have no influence with her, Nora, and your 
gentleness gives her too much scope. And now tell me 
a little more about our Monday's plan — have you spoken 
to Rachel ? " 

Yes," returned Elinor eagerly, '' I had such a nice 
long talk with her at her aunt's house. If we decide to 
settle at Wildcroft she will be perfectly willing to under- 
take the duties of house-maid. And there is something 
else I must tell you: her cousin Miriam is just leaving 
her place — her mistress is dead. She is such a nice young 
woman and a good plain cook, and Rachel and she are 
such friends." 

'' That sounds very promising." 

I thought you would say so. You see Bride and I 
intend to live very quietly, and as the house is not 
large we shall only need two maids. Of course we shall 
have to keep some sort of trap — a smart little cart not too 
high, that we can drive ourselves — but we do not mean 
to be extravagant." 

'' Oh, I think you will be able to afford that," replied 
Frances, who was beginning to be really interested in 
her sister's modest plans. You must get some one to 
find you a good steady horse." 

I must make Mr. Keith's acquaintance," returned 
Elinor. Hammond Keith was the name of the young 
farmer who was Lyall's tenant. I daresay I shall find 
him very useful. Bride and I have settled it all : the 
man who looks after the horse and trap will also be our 
gardener. Mrs. Deans says the garden has been utterly 
neglected. By the bye, I have written to her and begged 
her to light big fires in every room. It is a comfort to 
know that there is a sufficient stock of coal in the cellar, 
and quite a stack of wood in the old granary. Oh, what 


An Evening at Grove House 


59 


fun it will be : Bride and I feel like two babies fitting up 
a shabby old doll-house. You must not expect smart 
up-to-date furniture, Frances.’' 

Oh, I have no great expectations and very few 
illusions on the subject,” replied Frances composedly. 

But now I must get rid of my war-paint and go. How 
lovely dreamland will be to-night!” and Frances hero- 
ically stifled a yawn as she spoke. 

You poor dear, how tired you are ; and when you 
get back you will just go the round of the whole place!” 

‘‘Yes, I shall go my rounds,” acquiesced Frances; 
“ but the sleep of the labouring man is sweet, and so is 
that of the labouring woman ” ; and then there was no 
more talk, and in another quarter of an hour the sisters 
bade each other good-night. 

Elinor sat musing by the fire until Bride came upstairs. 
She had remained at her post bravely, but the latter part 
of the evening had not proved enjoyable. Mrs. Oscar 
Nugent had a fine contralto voice which she had cultivated 
with great success, but she could not play her own 
accompaniments. 

Augusta, who was a fair pianist, had generally volun- 
teered her services; but this evening she had excused 
herself under the plea of fatigue, and Bride had reluct- 
antly taken her place. Bride really played with a good 
deal of taste and spirit, but on this occasion she did not do 
herself credit. The accompaniment was difficult, and she 
had not Augusta’s facility of reading her notes at first 
sight; she stumbled more than once, and recovered her- 
self so awkwardly that Mrs. Nugent was obliged to stop. 
Bride grew hot and apologised, but it did not cool her 
cheeks to hear Augusta laugh in rather an exasperating 
manner ; and though she tried to retrieve the blunder, and 
Mrs. Oscar Nugent good-naturedly finished the song, she 
felt put out and humiliated. 

“ What a pity you do not practise more, Bride,” ob- 
served her sister-in-law, in the patronising tone in which 
she often addressed Bride in public ; “ Lyall is so devoted 
to music, he will be so disappointed if you lose your 
interest, and you have so much spare time on your hands. 
Mrs. Lyall is a lady at large,” she continued blandly; 


60 


No Friend Like a Sister 


“ she has not our incessant occupations and duties, my 
dear Laura ; we are both of us busy people.’’ 

Bride made no answer for a moment, she felt too 
much hurt. Augusta was always making these little 
speeches before her friends, and indirectly accusing her 
of idleness and waste of time. You should have played 
yourself, Augusta,” she said presently ; '' you know very 
well that I accompany badly from sight.” 

“ It was an extremely difficult accompaniment,” inter- 
posed Mrs. Oscar Nugent, who was anxious to throw 
oil on the troubled water. ‘'We all know how charmingly 
you play, my dear Mrs. Lyall, and if it is not too late 
I should like to hear that delightful nocturne you gave 
us last week.” But Bride was not to be mollified. She 
begged Mrs. Oscar Nugent to excuse her; she was not 
in the mood for playing, it was Augusta’s turn now ; and 
Bride took up some sketches that were lying on the side- 
table and pretended to look at them. 

She well knew that Augusta and Mrs. Oscar had ex- 
changed a meaning glance, but Bride did not care. Of 
course they thought her proud and disagreeable ; neither 
of them would have believed that she was really too 
nervous to play. With all her passionate love of music, 
it was almost impossible for her to do herself justice if 
her environment was out of harmony — the sweetest 
chords would have jangled in her brain. 

“ How have you got on. Bride ? ” asked Elinor cheer- 
fully. “ Frances has been such a dear, and I had quite 
a lovely time up here.” But Bride only shook her head 
and sighed ; and Elinor seeing which way the wind lay, 
prudently asked no more questions. 


VIII 


WiLDCROFT 

The withered leaves, besmirched and torn, 

That wild winds toss’d o’er hill and wold — 

Sad relics of a year outworn. 

Fall thick and fast, ye snowflakes white, 

To wrap the earth, and hide away 
With loving care from human sight 
All sad reminders of decay! 

Helen Marion Burnside. 

February was unusually inclement that year, and it 
was on a raw, cheerless morning that the sisters started 
for Meadow Thorpe. The air was so cold and nipping 
that Frances had some grounds for her suggestion that 
they might probably be snowed up. ■ '' Just imagine our 
plight,’’ she observed, as they neared their destination, 
'' three helpless females shut up in a lonely house, short 
of provisions and cut off from all contact from the outer 
world.” But Elinor, who was in high spirits, refused to 
be alarmed by such dreary prognostications; and even 
the prospect of driving four and a half miles in the 
dog-cart that George Deans, the bailiff, had proposed 
would not have daunted her. She was even disappointed 
when Frances had insisted that a fly from Masked 
should be ordered for their use. 

The dog-cart would have been such fun,” she ob- 
served ruefully, and we should have seen the country 
better, and with our furs we should not have been a bit 
cold.” But Frances, with her customary good sense 
refused flatly to run the risk of catching cold. 

'‘At your age you ought to know better,” she con- 
tinued with pretended severity. 

Elinor was not sorry for this wise decision when 
they reached Masked Station ; the air was so keen and 
bitter that even the shabby old fly seemed a welcome 
refuge. 

6i 


62 


No Friend Like a Sister 


There was a fourth member of the party — a beautiful 
reddish-brown retriever, Elinor’s special property. 

‘‘ I am going to give Rufus a treat,” she had said to 
Frances that evening at Grove House ; ‘‘ I shall take 
him to Meadow Thorpe”; and Frances, who knew how 
much her sister’s pleasure would be enhanced by the 
society of her favourite, offered no objection. She was 
rather fond of Rufus herself. 

He had been given to Elinor when he was only a 
puppy — a fat, woolly, reddish-brown ball, who tumbled 
over himself in the most ridiculous fashion — the most 
playful, winning, fascinating dog-baby that Elinor had 
ever seen. 

Mrs. Oscar Nugent was in delicate health just then, 
and Augusta had gone abroad with her for two or 
three months — all the more willingly that Sir Ralph had 
just started for Canada. 

Elinor said nothing in her letters about her new pet, 
and she and Bride devoted themselves to their delightful 
nursery duties with the utmost zeal and enjoyment. 

Augusta was absent for three months, and Rufus was 
a big, bouncing, mischievous puppy when she returned — 
healthy and full of spirits and devoted to his mistress. 
But, alas a bad time was coming for Rufus. 

Augusta simply refused to tolerate two dogs in the 
house, and there were constant ructions between her 
and Elinor. In Augusta’s opinion it was simply pre- 
posterous to keep an animal of that size as a domestic 
pet. She was not fond of dogs — indeed, she objected to 
them on principle, and never could be made to under- 
stand why pets should be necessary to any one. She 
had offended Bride more than once by stigmatising Scrap 
as a perfect nuisance and an odious little creature ” ; 
but then Scrap, who knew her enemies, generally snarled 
at Augusta. 

Elinor was in despair. Rufus was certainly getting 
very big; he was evidently going to be a beauty; he 
was just at the age of puppy dom when it was necessary 
to try his strong young teeth on all desirable objects — a 
beautiful skin rug was badly mauled. Elinor went to 
St. Monica’s Lodge to consult Frances; she was on the 


Wildcroft 


63 


brink of tears as she talked. What was to be done? 
Frances must help her; she positively could not part 
with Rufus — he was such a darling, and every one 
thought him such a beauty. Augusta was making both 
their lives miserable; Rufus did not dare show himself 
downstairs ; Gussie was determined to get rid of him by 
some means or other, and so on. Frances considered 
the matter; she owned it was very perplexing. Of 
course it was impossible to keep the dog in the teeth of 
Augusta’s opposition; she was not likely to give way — 
her will was far too strong for that — and she feared that 
for the sake of peace Elinor would be obliged to give in. 

I wish I could have him here,” she said thoughtfully, 

but I fear that is impossible.” 

“ Oh, yes, quite impossible,” agreed Elinor ; I was 
not thinking of such a thing for a moment — Rufus is 
far too boisterous for St. Monica’s Lodge. But, Frances, 
I never will consent to part with him ; surely there must 
be some way out of the difficulty.” Then Frances put 
on her considering cap, and at last evolved an idea. 

I think it would be best to let him live with Hudson,” 
she said slowly. Hudson was the owner of the Livery 
Stables near the Boltons from whom Augusta hired her 
brougham. ‘‘ He is an honest, good-natured man, and has 
a nice dog of his own ; you could pay him well, and he 
would be sure to make Rufus comfortable, and you could 
see him every day.” And though Elinor did not take 
very kindly to this advice, and made a good many objec- 
tions, she was finally induced to follow it; and after the 
heart-breaking parting had been got through, and Rufus 
had become accustomed to his new quarters, the arrange- 
ments had not worked badly. 

Elinor missed her troublesome but lovable charge very 
acutely; but after a time she grew more reconciled to 
his absence, and there were many compensations. She 
saw her favourite every day, and kept her memory green 
in his canine mind by judicious gifts of dainty biscuits 
dear to his doggish soul; and when her engagements 
permitted she took him out for long walks; but she 
always left him with a pang at her heart, and as she 
walked down the mews she was often afflicted by short 


64 


No Friend Like a Sister 


barks of anguish that assailed her ears; Rufus was so 
terribly wounded by his mistress’s unnatural desertion 
that he could not always refrain from expressing his 
feelings. 

There is a good time coming, Rufus,” observed 
Elinor, when she and Rachel had with some difficulty 
coaxed him into the cab that was to take them to the 
station ; in another month or two we shall be always 
together.” And Elinor’s tones were so cheering and 
comforting that Rufus felt it incumbent on him to express 
his affection and gratitude for favours to come by nearly 
upsetting the cab as it turned sharply round a corner, in 
his efforts to lick his mistress’s face. Rachel uttered a 
little shriek of terror, and Elinor in a stern voice admon- 
ished the culprit to sit still like a good boy. 

Rufus behaved rather well in the train, though he sat 
bolt upright and growled in rather a ridiculous fashion ; 
but when they arrived at Masked Station he flatly refused 
to enter the mouldy old fly; so Frances suggested that he 
should run by the side. We can all keep an eye on 
him,” she finished. 

As there was nothing else to be done, Elinor consented 
to try the experiment; but she was so racked with 
anxiety during the first mile and a half, that she had 
serious thoughts of finishing the remainder of the journey 
on foot. Rufus was so wildly exhilarated by his unusual 
freedom, that he made mad rushes along the road, and 
then imperilled his life and limbs by tearing round and 
round the vehicle, starting the steady old horse every 
time, and then leapt at the window, with a view of 
reaching his mistress ; and it was not until he had worked 
off his exuberant spirits, that he consented to settle 
down into his ordinary pace — only now and then jumping 
a gate, just for the pleasure of the thing. Elinor felt 
herself at liberty then to investigate her surroundings ; 
but she was obliged to confess to herself that the view 
was hardly exhilarating. The fields and hedgerows 
looked dreary under the grey clouded skies, and the keen 
north wind seemed to have a devastating effect. 

''We cannot possibly judge the country to-day,” she 
said slowly, as Frances shivered and drew her fur stole 


Wildcroft 


65 


closer round her ; '' it will look very different in April 
when the trees are no longer bare. We must content 
ourselves with just exploring the house.’’ 

Frances’ answer was slightly enigmatical. '' You may 
be quite sure that we shall have every opportunity for ex- 
ploring each hole and corner from garret to basement.” 
And then with prophetic solemnity, We shall cer- 
tainly have snow before nightfall.” 

Snow — you are joking, Frances,” returned Elinor 
uneasily ; “ why, to-morrow will be the first of March.” 

We have had snow in March before this,” observed 
her sister composedly. ‘‘ I assure you the stationmaster 
said so, and you remember our driver remarked that he 
must hurry back, for fear of being stopped.” 

Oh dear, I do believe you are right,” returned Elinor 
disconsolately, for the idea of being snowed up was not 
exactly inviting. 

Never mind, it will be a new experience,” returned 
Frances cheerfully. ‘‘ I don’t expect time will hang 
heavy on our hands ; if there is nothing else to do, we 
can go in for the rest cure, that will do neither of us 
any harm. Do you know, Nora, the four and a half miles 
seem unusually long, — but we have a slow horse ; look at 
Rufus, he is beginning to have enough of it.” Elinor 
let down the window and spoke to him. As she drew 
in her head she said eagerly, '' I do think we must be 
near Wildcroft, though I don’t see any sign of a house; 
a moment ago we turned into a sort of lane off the main 
road, and we have just passed a large hay rick; there 
seems to be a sort of farmyard through that archway, 
and there is a cottage on the other side. There certainly 
is a white gate before us ; yes, the driver is getting down 
to open it, and Rufus wants to make friends with him. 
He is going to lead the horse, so we must be near the 
house.” 

Elinor was right in her surmise ; the next moment the 
narrow drive widened, and a fairly-sized, comfortable- 
looking house came in sight, with old-fashioned bay 
windows and a porch; the walls, which were of a soft 
yellowish tint, were quite bare and unadorned by creepers. 
As they drove up, the door opened, and a good-lggking, 
5 


66 


No Friend Like a Sister 


dark-eyed young woman greeted them in a smiling 
manner. 

'' I am glad to see you, Miss Gresham,’’ as Elinor 
shook hands with her ; “for the weather is not improving, 
and my husband says there will be snow before long, 
and as you were half-an-hour late I was getting anxious. 
If you will warm yourselves by the fire. I’ll go and get 
you a cup of tea; and Jeffreys can have a cup too,” as 
the driver deposited the luggage in the hall. 

“ Thank you, Mrs. Deans, that will be very nice, and 
we had our luncheon on the way. Rachel, you had 
better go with Mrs. Deans. Isn’t this a nice room, 
Frances?” looking round the comfortable dining-room 
with its blazing fire. “ The furniture is old-fashioned, of 
course, but it is very good and massive, and what delight- 
ful easy-chairs !” 

Frances assented to this, as she knelt down to warm 
•her chilled hands at the blaze. “ It is far better than I 
expected,” she observed ; “ it is a very good-sized room, 
and the pictures are nice, and so is the paper ; the side- 
board is early Victorian, but I like it somehow.” 

“ Oh, it only wants a few finishing touches to make 
it charming,” returned Elinor joyously; and then she 
went to the window. On such an afternoon the out- 
look was somewhat dreary; but Elinor, who refused to 
be discouraged, tried to imagine how it would appear 
under blue skies and spring sunshine. “ I am sure it 
must be very peaceful and beautiful,” she said to herself ; 
“ but the garden has been terribly neglected, and the 
lawn looks like a field.” 

A belt of lawn lay beyond the drive; a fine old 
sycamore tree with a rockery surrounding it was just 
opposite the dining-room window ; a low fence divided 
the garden from the meadows ; beyond were the wide 
green uplands spreading as far as eye could see — huge 
pastures where, during the greater part of the year, the 
slow-moving cattle browsed, or sought shade under the 
big walnut trees ; a little gate in the drive opened into a 
rough little orchard which led, as they discovered later, 
to a large kitchen garden; there was also a wild plot 
pf ground near the white gate which was called The 


Wildcroft 


67 


Wilderness/" and where there was now a fine crop of 
nettles. 

It has capabilities/" remarked Elinor half-aloud ; and 
then she went to a side-window near the fireplace, which 
looked out on a large courtyard. Here there was an 
old granary with a flight of steps leading to the upper 
story. To Elinor "s surprise a little wicket gate evidently 
opened into the adjoining farmyard, for she could dis- 
tinctly see a sow routing in a straw heap. '' Oh, 
do come here, Frances,"" she exclaimed ; that must be 
our neighbour’s farmyard, though I had no idea that it 
was quite so close. I suppose those must be the kitchen 
premises,"" pointing to a door and windows over-looking 
the courtyard. '‘Yes, there is Rachel peeping out; she 
is evidently curious about her new environment."" 

" I rather like this quiet old courtyard,"" returned 
Frances; " there is something suggestive and picturesque 
about that old granary. In former times the owners of 
Wildcroft must have been gentlemen farmers, though 
from all I can see it is rather a small farmyard."" 

" Oh, it is not a large farm,"" returned Elinor, " I 
remember Lyall told us so ; and I do not suppose that we 
shall be inconvenienced by our neighbours. I like the 
look of Mrs. Deans, she is so bright and pleasant."" 

" Hush, here she comes with our tea,"" remarked 
Frances ; " and we had better drink it quickly, if we want 
to see anything of the house before darkness invades us."" 
And as Elinor glanced apprehensively at the heavy, sullen 
sky, it was impossible not to share this opinion ; and as 
soon as they were warmed and refreshed, Elinor led the 
way to the drawing-room. Here again they were agree- 
ably surprised. 

It was a very pleasant room, and the outlook from the 
low bay window was the same as from the dining-room ; 
and although the furniture was net modern or up-to-date, 
and the cretonne was faded almost to extinction, it had 
an air of old-fashioned comfort. The sisters were espe- 
cially pleased by a narrow recess with an easy-chair 
and escritoire; here there was a side-window with a 
view of a little walk, which seemed to lead to a small 
gate; the trees which bordered the path were leafless, 


68 


No Friend Like a Sister 


and in spite of the advancing dusk, they had a glimpse 
of a ruined arch and two or three tombstones. 

That must be the little ruin that Lyall admired,’’ 
observed Elinor in rather an awe-struck voice. ‘‘ I 
daresay it is picturesque in summer, and that little shady 
walk must be nice, but it is rather weird this afternoon. 
I hope Wildcroft is not haunted, Frances.” And then 
she carried her off for further exploration ; and after a 
cursory review of a nice little morning-room and a 
spacious, cheerful kitchen, they went upstairs. 

It is really a very comfortable house,” observed 
Frances, as they looked round the room intended for 
Elinor’s use. Rachel was unpacking her mistress’s things 
and laying them in the wardrobe. '' I see you have two 
windows; that side one overlooking the entrance must 
be very pleasant. The opposite room is nearly as large — 
I suppose Bride will have that ? ” Elinor assented to this, 
but she changed her mind a few minutes later. Thev had 
just been looking at the small room which Rachel was to 
occupy that night, when Frances called her attention to 
two others opening out of each other. ''Aren’t these 
rooms quaint, now,” she exclaimed. " The ceilings are 
rather low, but there are two delightful windows in 
the outer one; you see one overlooks the courtyard and 
granary ; and they are such good-sized rooms, too.” 

" I believe Bride would like them best,” returned 
Elinor ; " she does love anything quaint and out of the 
common. The inner room, which is not so large, would 
just do for her painting and all her messes. Rachel tells 
me there are some big attics upstairs, but it is really too 
dark to see any more. Ah, there comes the snow ! Let 
us get our work and books and make ourselves cosy for 
the evening.” But in the end they were both so drowsy 
with fatigue and cold, that when Rachel came to summon 
them to supper, she found them dozing in the firelight 
like two blissful Tabbies, and Rufus stretched luxuriously 
on the rug at his mistress’s feet. 


IX 


“ Two Lame Dogs ” 


Our grand business is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, 
but to do what lies clearly at hand. — Carlyle. 

Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety . — King 
Henry IV. 

Frances'' prophecy had been verified. When Mrs. 
Deans came through the courtyard to cook the young 
ladies' supper, she told them that she could not see a 
yard before her, and had had some difficulty in finding the 
gate. 

I was quite white from head to foot when I landed 
in the kitchen," she continued, '' for the air is just thick 
with driving snow." 

You ought not to have troubled to have come across, 
Mrs. Deans," observed Elinor ; ‘‘ Rachel could have 

cooked the chops as nicely as possible." But Mrs. Deans 
only laughed and shook her head. 

It is not a handful of snow that would terrify me," 
she returned. Those chicks of mine won't sleep for the 
next hour or two, they are so excited. Gilbert is all 
for sweeping the snow and making a snow-man ; but I 
tell them it may all have gone before the morning — not 
that I believe it, though." 

Rachel will be quite able to do for us," observed 
Frances. But Mrs. Deans only smiled pleasantly. “ No 
indeed, Miss Gresham, you are not going to rob me of 
my one little bit of pleasure. It is a sight for sore eyes 
to see a fresh face in this God-forsaken old place of 
ours. Why, as I tell George, we seem to be living at the 
world's end. If it were not for Patty Sibley, the wag- 
goner's wife, I should have no one with whom I could 
exchange a word ; but her four boys, and one of them a 
baby in arms, keep her busy from morning to night." 

69 


70 


No Friend Like a Sister 


I should think you find enough to do yourself, 
Mrs. Deans.’’ 

Indeed, Miss Gresham, you are right there,” she 
returned briskly ; every season brings its work, but at 
hay-time and harvest, I am fairly beat. There is dinner 
and tea to carry to George and the men, and as often as 
not the master is with them.” 

Do you mean Mr. Keith ? ” 

'‘Yes, the boss as George calls him; and a good sort 
he is too, and never spares his money if he can make 
folk comfortable. Dear, how my arms do ache some- 
times with carrying those heavy baskets, when the sun is 
blazing on the road, and they are cutting the big meadow, 
and never a creature to help me, with the children learn- 
ing their lessons at school, and always for play the 
moment they are loose. But there, as I tell Mr. Keith, 
a merry heart goes all the day ” ; and Mrs. Deans’s white 
teeth gleamed again in a ready smile. 

" To be sure it does,” replied Frances, " and your sad 
tires in a mile-a, — at least we have Shakespeare’s word 
for it.” 

" Oh, George has a copy of Shakespeare,” returned 
Mrs. Deans proudly. " It belonged to his father, and he 
would not sell it for its weight in gold ; he always keeps 
it with the Family Bible and the Pilgrim's Progress, 
and calls them his three good books. He is a bit of a 
bookworm is George. But there, I must not be keeping 
you waiting for your supper,” and Mrs. Deans hurried 
otf. 

" What a bright good-natured creature she is,” observed 
Elinor, " and so good-looking too ; she is quite a brunette, 
with her dark complexion and eyes, and when she laughs 
and shows her teeth, she is quite handsome. I foresee 
that Mrs. Deans and I will be good friends.” 

" I have not a doubt of it.” And then Frances went to 
the window. " It is still snowing, and I believe that it 
means to continue. What a white still world! Now I 
wonder if this will damp your enthusiasm.” But Elinor 
shook her head. 

" I think I shall quote Mrs. Deans’s words,” she replied 
merrily, " ' a handful of snow would not terrify me.’ 


Two Lame Dogs 71 

I am far too enamoured of my plan to give it up for a 
trifle/’ 

I don’t expect you to give it up,” returned her sister 
sensibly, but I advise you to regard it as an experiment 
— a sort of arrangement pro tern. Happily there is no 
need to bind yourselves in the least; Mr. Grayson can 
easily find another tenant for Wildcroft. I suppose Lyall 
will quite approve of you and Bride settling here ? ” 

Oh yes, we are quite sure of that ; he will be only 
too glad for Bride to live quietly in the country. I 
will regard it as an experiment if you like, Frances; 
and of course, I know we could give it up any time if it 

does not answer, but all the same ” But Elinor never 

finished her sentence, for at that moment the doorbell 
rang, and the sound was so startling and unexpected that 
it brought Mrs. Deans out of the kitchen. 

It must be a tramp or some one who has lost his 
bearings,” she said as she opened the door, while the 
sisters looked on with expectant curiosity. But they 
were all taken aback when a young lady stepped into the 
hall, followed by a good-looking young man. They had 
evidently tried to rid themselves of the snow, but the 
young lady’s hat and hair, and even her veil, were still 
thickly powdered. Two bicycles were propped up against 
the porch. 

“ Oh, I am so sorry,” observed the girl in rather a 
trembling voice — she looked blue with cold — we lost 
our way coming from Maskell, and found ourselves off 
the road, and then my brother ” 

“ Let me explain,” interrupted the young man. ‘‘We 
had bicycled over to Maskell on business, which detained 
us so long that it was nearly dark before we started for 
home, and the snow came on, and we had to walk, and 
somehow we lost our bearings, and my sister was so 
done up, that she could not walk a yard more, and seeing 
the gate ” 

“Oh, please don’t explain any more just now!” ex- 
claimed Frances, who saw that the poor girl was ready to 
drop with fatigue and over-exertion. “ Come in and warm 
yourselves ; we have a splendid fire. And, Mrs. Deans, I 
think their bicycles ought to be taken into shelter.” And 


72 


No Friend Like a Sister 


then she ushered their unexpected guests into the 
drawing-room. 

It was always pleasant to see Frances’ quiet efficiency 
in any emergency; she was never fussy or flurried. In 
a moment an easy-chair was pushed close to the fire, and 
her deft fingers had removed the wet hat and veil, and 
were helping frozen fingers to get rid of the doeskin 
gloves ; and then she knelt down to unbutton the soaking 
boots. 

'' Your hands are too cold,” she said in answer to the 
girl’s shamed remonstrance. Besides I am a nurse by 
profession, and used to waiting on people. Now I 
think I shall take this young lady to my room ; her feet 
are quite wet, and I must get them dried. Will you 
come with me, my dear?” And then she whispered in 
her sister’s ear, Send Rachel up with hot water, and 
tell Mrs. Deans to cook some more chops for supper.” 

Frances’ trained eyes saw very plainly that the girl was 
on the verge of tears, and that she was quite exhausted 
with her long walk in the cold. But she was in good 
hands, and she was soon dry and comfortable, and able 
to enjoy the cup of hot tea that Elinor had thoughtfully 
sent up to her. 

Meanwhile Elinor was busying herself for her other 
guest’s comfort. His feet were all right he assured her, 
but as he had had a roll in a ditch, he would be glad 
of a brush up and a wash. I had to take both the 
bicycles in tow at last,” he observed, as Kathleen got so 
giddy with the cold.” And then he went off under 
Rachel’s charge; while Elinor interviewed Mrs. Deans 
in the kitchen. 

She found that worthy young woman in a high state 
of excitement. Such an adventure had never come her 
way before ; it would afford her and Mrs. Sibley food for 
a week. 

‘‘Tramps indeed!” she exclaimed, as she cut fresh 
chops off the loin of mutton. “ Well, of all the queer 
things to happen, and on your first night too. Miss 
Gresham. Why, that is young Mr. Milner, who is lodging 
at Crow Farm. I saw him once walking with Mr. Keith, 
and he passed the time of day as pleasantly as possible. 


Two Lame Dogs 


73 


A well-set-up young fellow too. Some one told me his 
sister was staying with him.'’ 

And his name is Milner ? " But as a manly footstep 
sounded in the passage outside, Elinor did not wait for 
Mrs. Deans's reply. When she returned to the drawing- 
room, she found him standing by the fireplace in rapt 
enjoyment of the logs. 

‘‘ It is too bad to give you all this trouble," he said, 
colouring slightly, “ and you do not even know our 
names ; but necessity knows no laws." 

‘‘ That is true," returned Elinor pleasantly. She saw he 
was rather embarrassed by the situation and wished to put 
him at his ease. In an accident one cannot always pro- 
duce a card-case. But you are mistaken, Mr. Milner, I 
have been in possession of your name for full five minutes. 
Mrs. Deans recognised you at once." 

“ Mrs. Deans ? " in a puzzled voice. Oh, you must 
mean George Deans's wife ; he is Keith's working bailiff. 
I remember he pointed her out to me one day — a good- 
looking dark woman. I recollect he called her Patience." 

‘‘ What a nice old-fashioned name. Do please take that 
easy-chair, Mr. Milner, for you must be tired out." 

No, only a bit stiff. I had rather an awkward tumble 
into a big ditch, and one of the bicycles landed on top of 
me. Poor Kathleen was so frightened, but I managed to 
scramble out. I did not mind for myself, but I was 
bothered about my sister. I ought not to have allowed 
her to venture all that distance; but I had no idea that 
we should be detained so long ; and then the snow came, 
and I was at my wit's end how I was to get her to 
Tylcote." 

And then you lost your way ? " 

‘‘ Yes, we must have got off the 'main road somehow ; 
and then we came to this gate, and I had an idea that 
there must be a house near. I cannot tell you how thank- 
ful I was to see a gleam of light from the windows ; but 
I never expected such kind hospitality." 

‘‘ It was really providential that we should have come 
to-day," returned Elinor, for you might have found the 
house dark and shut up." And then she explained that 
they had only arrived that afternoon, and would probably 


74 


No Friend Like a Sister 


return to London in three or four days. ''We have come 
down to spy out the land. The house belongs to my 
brother, who is now in South Africa,’’ she went on, " and 
we have some idea of coming down in the spring.” 

" You must be Miss Gresham,” returned Mr. Milner. 
" Hammond Keith once told me that Wildcroft belonged 
to the Rev. Lyall Gresham, and that he had taken the 
farm off Mr. Gresham’s hands.” 

Elinor smiled assent to this. And then she looked at 
him with friendly curiosity. Although she was not such 
a keen judge of character as Frances, she had plenty of 
womanly perception. She had already guessed from the 
young man’s evident embarrassment and want of ease 
that he had not mixed largely in society, and though he 
was fairly well dressed in a suitable fashion, there was a 
marked difference between him and the young men who 
came to Grove House. 

He was undeniably good-looking; his features were 
well cut and his expression was singularly bright and 
attractive, and Elinor felt sure that he was clever. He 
was tall and very athletic-looking, and there was a 
straightforward simplicity about him that pleased her and 
made her wish to know more about him. 

" Mrs. Deans tells me that you are staying at Crow 
Farm,” she remarked, after a minute’s silence. 

" Yes, I am lodging there,” he replied quickly. " They 
call me a paying guest, I believe, but Mrs. Keith makes 
me awfully comfortable. Do you know her. Miss 
Gresham ? ” 

" Oh, no,” with a smile, " I am quite a stranger here ; 
Meadow Thorpe and Tylcote are merely names to me. 
If we come to live this summer, I shall hope to know 
something of my neighbours.” 

" There are some awfully nice people at Tylcote/’ 
returned Mr. Milner in an enthusiastic voice, " and both 
Kathleen and I have met with plenty of kindness.” 

"Your sister is with you then?” 

" Yes, but only for a short time; she cannot well leave 
my father alone, but just now we have a cousin looking 
after him.” And then he jumped up from his chair as 
Frances and Miss Milner entered the room. Elinor 


Two Lame Dogs 75 

liked the look that passed between the brother and 
sister. 

‘‘ Well, Kathleen, do you feel better and more rested?’' 

'' Oh yes, indeed,” replied the girl brightly. ‘‘ Miss 
Gresham has been so good to me, Hugh; my feet feel 
quite dry and comfortable, and I shall be able to walk 
better now.” 

‘‘ Oh, we will talk about that after supper,” observed 
Frances. '' Nora, the colfee is ready, and we had better 
go in.” But the two strangers held back and exchanged 
questioning glances. 

‘‘We could not think of trespassing on your hospitality 
any further,” observed Hugh Milner in rather a troubled 
tone. “ If you would kindly give our bicycles shelter 
until the morning ” 

But Frances checked him with kind peremptoriness. 
“We will talk over ways and means as we drink our 
coffee,” she said, touching his arm lightly. “ You must 
not refuse to break bread with us.” And after this no 
further objection could be raised. 

The warm, bright-looking dining-room must have 
seemed a pleasant harbourage to the tired wayfarers, and 
it was evident that they found the excellent coffee and 
well-cooked chops extremely palatable — Hugh Milner 
especially, for he was as hungry as a hunter. 

The brother and sister were very much alike ; they had 
the same dark hair and eyes, and the same bright ex- 
pression. Kathleen Milner was rather a pretty girl, and 
she had nice unaffected manners. She seemed to have 
taken a great fancy to Frances, but then most people 
trusted her at once. When Frances had knelt down 
to dry the poor little cold feet Kathleen in her young 
impulsiveness could have kissed her for her sweet wo- 
manly charity; but she only managed to whisper shyly, 
“ Oh, how good you are to me ; I shall never forget it, 
never.” And then one of Frances’ beautiful smiles 
lighted up the plain dark face. 

“ My dear,” she said gently, “ I think it is such a 
privilege to help people when they are in trouble. I 
agree with Charles Kingsley that ‘ helping lame dogs 
over stiles ’ is one’s chief duty in life,” 


76 


No Friend Like a Sister 


I wonder Hugh is not a lame dog/’ observed Kath- 
leen, with a nervous little laugh ; he might have 
sprained his ankle in that ditch, and be lying there now. 
Oh dear, how frightened I was when he suddenly dis- 
appeared, and I could not think what had become of 
him, until I heard a sort of underground voice telling 
me to stand still; but I had no idea that the bicycle 
had fallen on him until he told me afterwards.” 

Both Frances and Elinor had the art of putting shy 
guests at their ease, and they were soon chatting quite 
happily about the neighbourhood. 

A chance remark from Elinor led to further particulars 
on Hugh Milner’s part. 

I have been at Tylcote for three months,” he observed ; 

I have got work there.” And as Elinor looked inter- 
ested, he continued quietly, ‘‘ I am an architect, and by 
a lucky fluke I have got the commission for repairing 
Tylcote Church. I suppose you do not know the Rev. 
Gale Warburton?” And as Elinor shook her head, he 
went on, ‘‘ He is the Vicar of Tylcote — Tylcote Major 
they call it to distinguish it from Tylcote Street — he got 
me the berth, but, as I said, it was only a lucky fluke.” 

What do you mean, Hugh ? ” exclaimed his sister 
indignantly. It was nothing of the kind. Mr. Warbur- 
ton was delighted with your drawings, and thought you 
would do the work well, and then he talked it over with 
Mr. Morrell.” 

‘‘ The Rector, Rev. Owen Morrell,” explained Hugh, 
seeing that his hostesses were slightly puzzled. St. 
Philip’s, the church I am repairing, is the Parish Church 
of Tylcote Street, and is two miles from the other Tylcote 
where the Rev. Gale Warburton lives.” 

Oh, I see, there are two Tylcotes,” observed Elinor. 
— ''Tylcote Street and Tylcote Major; and I suppose 
Crow Farm is somewhere near?” 

" Yes, it is in Tylcote Street, and quite close to St. 
Philip’s, so I was very lucky to find such comfortable 
quarters. I have to thank Mr. Morrell for that recom- 
mendation ; he introduced me himself to the Keiths.” 

"All this is very interesting,” observed Frances, " and 
I know my sister is pleased to hear about her future 


Two Lame Dogs 


77 


neighbours — rather distant neighbours, by the bye. But, 
Nora, it is getting late, and we cannot keep Mrs. Deans.’' 
And at this hint Elinor rose from the table. 

'' I expect the snow has ceased by this time,” remarked 
Hugh Milner cheerfully. If you will allow me. Miss 
Gresham, I will just open the street door.” But as he 
did so, an exclamation of dismay rose to his lips; the 
air was still thick with falling snow. 

Please shut that door, Mr. Milner,” observed Frances 
in a brisk business-like voice. '' Unless you wish to repeat 
your experience, and to lie in the bottom of some ditch 
with the snow as your winding sheet, I advise you to 
remain in your present quarters. I won’t promise that 
we can make you very comfortable, but we will do the 
best we can under the circumstances. Now, not another 
word. Will you take Miss Milner into the drawing- 
room while my sister and I and good Mrs. Deans hold a 
council of war together”; and Frances spoke with such 
authority and decision that Hugh Milner was compelled 
to obey. 


X 


Hugh Milner 

The individual is expressed in character. — Bishop Creighton. 

Although in a very humble and apparently confined sphere of 
action, who can tell the effect which our influence or that of our 
conduct may have upon others, and its reaction throughout future 
ages? — W. H. Smith. 

'' I don’t know what you think about it, Kitten, but in 
my opinion we are in a confoundedly awkward position ” ; 
and there was such a perturbed expression on Hugh 
Milner’s face that Kathleen forbore to laugh at him. 

''We must just make the best of it/’ she returned 
soothingly. " Of course it is rather comical and ridicu- 
lous, and neither of us had an idea when we started this 
morning that we should have such an adventure; but 
really, Hugh, they are so kind and nice about it, and 
Miss Gresham is so determined to keep us, that I think 
we need not make ourselves uncomfortable.” 

" I am sorry that I can’t agree with you,” replied 
her brother, impatiently. " You always take such a one- 
sided view, and never look at a thing all round. I am 
not saying a word against our hostesses — nothing could 
be kinder than their reception of two half-frozen tramps 
— but don’t you see. Kitten, that you and I are different 
people ? ” 

" I don’t quite understand you, dear.” 

" You are not usually so dense,” returned Hugh rather 
irritably. " Don’t you see that it is easy for a girl 
like you to accept kindness and hospitality from your 
own sex, but a man is in a different category ? ” 

" Oh, Hugh, I wish you were not so dreadfully proud ; 
such an idea would have never entered my head.” 

" Well, I am quite serious. Look here, Kathleen, I 
shall be very grateful to these ladies if they will keep 
you for the night; but if George Deans will lend me a 

78 


Hugh Milner 


79 


lantern and a strong stick, I can very well make my 
way to Crow Farm. I know where I am now, and 

when we get out of this lane ” But Kathleen threw 

herself on him with a faint shriek. 

Oh, Hugh, you dreadful boy, how can you be so 
cruel ! You are not thinking of me one little bit. Do you 
suppose I could close my eyes all night, after Miss Gresh- 
am’s speech about your lying in a ditch half-buried in 
snow? You may as well give up this mad idea, for if 
you go I should certainly refuse to be left behind.” And 
Kathleen looked so pale and resolute that Hugh was 
obliged to give in. 

Well, don’t make such an outcry, or some one will 
hear us,” he replied in a ruffled tone. ''We must talk it 
quietly over and see if we can find some way out of the 
difficulty.” Then Kathleen, much relieved, planted her- 
self on the rug at her brother’s feet. 

" Do you think Mr. Keith will be organising a search- 
party for us ? ” she asked. 

" Not he ! he is far too canny for that. He will 
think that we are putting up at the inn at Maskell. I 
expect they are all asleep at Crow Farm.” 

" Oh, that’s all right ; I do hate making people anxious, 
I think it is worse than giving them trouble. There seem 
a good many rooms upstairs, so I don’t believe there will 
be much difficulty.” Kathleen was a born optimist, and 
generally took cheerful views. Hugh, in spite of his 
powerful muscular development, was of a more nervous 
and melancholic temperament. 

" My dear child, you don’t a bit grasp the situation. 
This is not an ordinary household. The younger Miss 
Gresham explained it all to me. They only arrived from 
London a few hours ago; they have just come down 
to see the house and place, and only intend to stay three 
or four days. I don’t believe the rooms and beds are 
aired, for Wildcroft to my knowledge has been shut up 
for months.” 

" Oh, I knew all this before,” returned Kathleen 
quickly. " Miss Gresham — what a dear she is, I declare 
I quite love her already — is the head of a Nursing Home 
in Maida Vale. St. Monica’s Lodge she called it, and she 


80 


No Friend Like a Sister 


said she could only spare a few days from her patients, 
but that her sister needed her so. Hugh, do you know, 
I think they are a cut above us.’’ 

'' Pshaw ! ” muttered Hugh. But Kathleen was too 
absorbed to heed him. 

She took me into her sister’s room because it was 
warmer than hers, and there were such lovely silver things 
on the toilet table. And then did you notice Miss Elinor 
Gresham’s rings — such beautiful sapphires and dia- 
monds ? ” 

'' Kitten, I do wish you would be serious for five 
minutes. Who wants to hear about rings and silver- 
backed brushes ! Well may father call you ‘ a snapper-up 
of unconsidered trifles ; ’ he quoted Shakespeare to some 
purpose there.” 

“ Father was very disagreeable, and I was much 
offended,” returned Kathleen with dignity. ^'And now 
you are behaving just like a bear with a sore head ; 
instead of enjoying our novel adventure, you are worry- 
ing yourself and me too. Wait a moment,” interrupting 
herself, '' I really have a brilliant idea, — I am not as 
dense as you think me, Hugh, and I quite understand 
your scruples, — don’t you think George Deans could give 
you a bed, the farm is quite close ? ” 

It is not a bad idea, but,” rather gloomily, ‘‘ I am 
sorry to say not feasible. Hammond Keith told me that 
it is such a small close cottage, and that he means to call 
Mr. Gresham’s attention to it ; he thinks there ought to be 
a new house built for the bailiff. Just fancy, there are 
only two bedrooms and they have a young man lodger. 
Of course Mr. Gresham ought to build, and if he would 
only give me the job ! ” 

Yes, that would be delightful. So that idea has fallen 
through — well, what is to be done?” 

Oh, I shall ask them to let me spend the night in this 
easy-chair.” Hugh spoke more cheerfully ; he was 
accepting the situation, and was rather ashamed of his 
unusual irritability with his sister; but he was stiff and 
sore, his tumble had bruised him more than Kathleen 
guessed ; and then she was never quick at taking alarm. 
She gave him an affectionate smile, Kathleen was 


Hugh Milner 


81 


devoted to her brother ; she honoured and respected him 
from the depths of her warm womanly heart, but she 
never blinded herself to his faults or considered him 
perfect. 

She knew that pride was his great failing, and that 
on some points he was sensitive to the verge of touchiness. 
He disliked extremely to be beholden to people for 
favours unless he could see some way of repaying them. 
Strangers sometimes thought him haughty and were 
offended with his want of response to their overtures. 

Kathleen often told herself that he was a strange 
contradiction; he was not in the least proud of his own 
abilities or cleverness — indeed in all that concerned him- 
self he was exceedingly modest and unassuming. It was 
one of those blemishes and littlenesses which often mar 
an otherwise fine character; but, as Kathleen thought, 
it was very human. I have my faults and Hugh has 
his,’’ she once said to a dear friend, and we love each 
other all the better for not pretending that we think each 
other perfect.” 

“ What can have become of our hostesses ? ” observed 
Hugh uneasily ; “ I heard a clock strike ten some time 
ago, and I can see that you are getting sleepy. Kitten.” 
And Kathleen could not deny this ; indeed, she had some 
difficulty in keeping her eyes open. They were both 
relieved when they heard foptsteps approaching, and 
the next minute Elinor appeared, followed by Rachel. 
They were each laden with blankets, rugs, and pillows. 

‘‘ Oh, I am so sorry ! ” exclaimed Elinor breathlessly, 
but we have had such a chapter of accidents. We tried 
to light a fire in one of the unused rooms, and we were 
nearly smothered in smoke, and Mrs. Deans thinks that 
there must be an old bird’s nest in the chimney; so 
we could do nothing, and the room is perfectly unin- 
habitable.” 

If you would kindly let me use this delightful easy- 
chair by the fire,” began Hugh hurriedly; but Elinor 
laughed and shook her head. 

Oh, we can manage better than that. Will you help 
Rachel wheel that comfortable-looking couch near the 
fire. And, Miss Milner, my sister is waiting upstairs to 
6 


82 


No Friend Like a Sister 


show you your room; you will find it very warm and 
snug/’ 

Then Kathleen, nothing loath, wished them both good- 
night and ran off, and then Elinor assisted the maid to 
transform the big roomy couch into an impromptu bed. 

There,” she said triumphantly, '' I think you will be 
warm and comfortable. But you must keep up a good 
fire. You must ask Mrs. Deans to refill the coal-scuttle, 
Rachel.” And as she withdrew Elinor continued kindly, 
‘‘ It is the best we can do for you under the circum- 
stances.” 

You are too good,” he stammered. ‘‘ Miss Gresham, 
there is something I want to say. I meant to have 
accepted your hospitality most gratefully for my sister, 
but it was my intention to have borrowed a lantern and 
stout stick from George Deans, and have made my way 
to Crow Farm.” 

Elinor looked quite shocked at this. I think that 
would have been a very risky performance, Mr. Milner. 
Neither my sister nor I would have allowed you to leave 
our roof on such a night.” 

‘‘ Oh, I should have found my way all right,” he 
returned confidently. But Kathleen made herself so 
unhappy about it, that I was obliged to give up the idea. 
Miss Gresham, I assure you that I remain most unwill- 
ingly. It is not fair that you should be troubled in 
this way.” 

Hugh’s embarrassment and discomfort made him seem 
a little abrupt in manner, and for a moment Elinor felt 
rather hurt; they had received the brother and sister 
with such frankness and kindness. 

Oh, do not mistake me,” returned the young man, 
full of compunction, as Elinor’s soft eyes looked at him 
rather gravely ; '' it was my duty to think of you and not 
of my own comfort. The idea of putting two ladies to 
such inconvenience — oh, surely you understand ! ” as a 
fresh access of shyness seized him. Then a sunny smile 
lit up Elinor’s face. 

I understand perfectly,” she said gently, and I 
thank you for your kind consideration for us ; but 
indeed your scruples are quite unnecessary. Oh, here 


Hugh Milner 


83 


comes Rachel with the coals, and I will wish you good- 
night.’’ And she shook hands with such cordial good- 
will that Hugh Milner’s misgiving vanished. 

Happily for his peace of mind, he was not aware that 
Frances had given up her room to Kathleen and was 
sharing her sister’s ; and that Rufus, who was restless in 
his new quarters, insisted on passing the night there too. 

Elinor was almost too wide-awake to sleep ; she was 
amused and excited by the evening’s adventure, and 
was anxious to know what Frances thought of their 
unexpected guests. 

Frances’ opinion was distinctly favourable. I like 
them both,” she observed. Mr. Milner is very good- 
looking and intelligent, and I think he is a well-bred 
man — though perhaps not much used to society. I 
fancy we see him at a disadvantage to-night.” 

Elinor agreed with this. 

He certainly seemed very unwilling to accept our 
hospitality,” she went on ; he actually wanted to grope 
his way through the snow to Crow Farm.” 

'' Oh, that was only gentlemanly feeling on his part,” 
replied Frances, and I like him none the worse for 
that. Miss Milner is a thoroughly nice girl. But, Nora, 
it is nearly twelve, and I am dreadfully sleepy, and that 
big bed looks delightfully comfortable ” ; and then Elinor 
reluctantly held her peace. 

Hugh Milner too was thankful to stretch his tired limbs 
on the luxurious couch; he was amazed to find how 
stiff and aching he felt. The bright firelight and the 
novelty of his present quarters prevented him from 
sleeping as soon as usual. The quiet reproach in Miss 
Gresham’s eyes rather haunted him. She had drawn 
herself up with a little air of dignity at his gauche speech. 

She is a sweet woman,” he said to himself ; I don’t 
know why, but she reminded me a little of mother. I 
wonder if Kathleen noticed it ; but she was so engrossed 
with the elder one. She is nice too, only not so attractive 
as her sister.” Then his thoughts wandered to a remark 
that Kathleen had made. 

‘‘ Kit was right — they are certainly a cut above us. 
They are evidently people in good position; they had 


84 


No Friend Like a Sister 


such easy manners/’ and here Hugh sighed involun- 
tarily. “We are not likely to see much of them, I fancy. 
It seems a bit strange that that elder Miss Gresham 
should be head of a Nursing Home; only women do 
these sort of things nowadays — perhaps it is a hobby. 

I wonder,” reflected Hugh rather sleepily, “ what they 
would think of father being only an organist and giving 
lessons, and then the shabby little house in Acacia Road.” 
And Hugh, forgetting his bruises, gave an impatient 
plunge, disarranging his rugs and blankets. “And it is 
not as though mother were alive,” he finished with a 
groan, as he replaced his distorted coverings. 

This was the secret root of bitterness that was at ‘ 
the bottom of Hugh Milner’s sensitiveness and pride. 
He was so conscious of his own disadvantages that he 
failed to realize how the discipline of his limitations, 
and the very thwarting of his ambition, helped to deepen 
his character and to make him more self-reliant and 
full of resource. 

Hugh had been a clever, promising lad, and as he 
had undoubted capabilities and took immense pride in 
the profession he had chosen, his friends and wellwishers 
prophesied smooth things concerning him. 

He would make his mark, they said, and would rise 
in his profession, although there were no influential 
patrons to pat him on the back and give him a helping 
hand. “ When a young man has real grit in him,” they 
said to Mr. Milner, “ he will soon make his way.” This 
was forcible, though not gracefully expressed ; but Mr. 
Milner found it comforting. Certainly the boy had real 
grit in him. 

The organist of St. James’s, Bayswater, was exceed- 
ingly popular with the vicar and choir, and indeed with all 
his pupils. He was a quiet, depressed-looking man ; but 
he had been exceedingly good-looking in his youth, his 
manners were gentle and very pleasing, and he rarely 
lost patience with the most trying pupil. But the work 
was not to his taste, and of late he had grown to loathe it. 

His happiest hours were spent at the organ in St. 
James’s or in playing his beloved violin. He had a 
passionate love of music, and Kathleen had been carefully 


Hugh Milner 


85 


trained to accompany him. He had taught her to play 
on the organ, and she had become so proficient that the 
vicar of St. James’s had permitted her to take her father’s 
place when he had been prostrated by influenza. 

It was a great disappointment to Mr. Milner that 
Hugh did not share these musical tastes, and could not 
be persuaded to learn any instrument. Even as a boy 
he had a will of his own, and could argue out every 
question to his own satisfaction. 

“ What on earth is the use of wasting my time pound- 
ing away at the piano or the violoncello when I have 
not an ear for music ! ” he would say. “ Two in a 
family make quite enough noise. Kit. Father ought to 
be content to know that I work hard at Euclid and 
drawing; it is better to do one thing well than to have 
a smattering of half-a-dozen.” And Hugh stuck obsti- 
nately to his opinion. 

He and Kathleen were devoted to their father, and 
the little household had been a most harmonious one; 
but the loss of the dearly loved wife and mother had 
been a sore trouble. Mrs. Milner had been the very 
heart of the home to her children; and Hugh, whose 
love for his mother amounted almost to a passion, had 
been for a time crushed with sorrow. 

From childhood she had been to him the embodiment 
of womanly grace and beauty. Her fair face and soft 
voice, even the gentle rustling of her garments, still 
haunted him at times. He remembered, too, how when 
he was a little lad he had often wondered why she 
seemed unhappy, and that more than once he had sur- 
prised her in tears. But later on he understood it, when 
before her death, she talked to him about her past life. 
‘‘ I always meant you to know, Hughie,” she said, ‘‘ but 
your dear father was so unwilling for me to speak ; but 
I told him last night that I wanted my boy to know 
everything.” And then as Hugh rested his head against 
her pillow, she told him in a low weak voice the story 
of her girlhood. 


XI 


“I Have Come to See You, Janet" 

Oh, how sweet, how painful and sweet, it is, to stoop and 
bend day after day, with weary care, over the common dust- 
heap of our past experiences and humming old tunes to our- 
selves, and thinking of our lost hopes and buried loves, to pick 
out the little diamonds of memory and put them on our bosoms ! 
— Anon. 

Janet Milner, in spite of her gentleness, had been an 
extremely reserved woman, and she had kept from her 
children the knowledge of certain facts connected with 
her early life. Both Hugh and Kathleen had known 
that their mother’s childhood and youth had been spent 
in a luxurious home in one of the midland counties, but 
they had often wondered why she had seemed so reluctant 
to speak of the past, and why any allusion to old days 
seemed to give her pain ; but they were not aware 
that her parents were still living, and she was a disowned 
and disinherited daughter. Very shortly after his 
mother’s death Hugh saw an announcement in the M orn- 
ing Post, which he pointed out silently to his sister. 
Kathleen read it with a feeling of awe. On September 
6th, at Salcott Grange, Erpingham, Sir Walter Vincent, 
Bart., in the seventy-fifth year of his age.” 

That was our grandfather, Kathleen,” he said in 
rather a queer voice. 

Janet Vincent had been an only daughter, and her 
parents had idolised her. She was a beautiful girl, at 
once gentle and high-spirited, but she was unfortunately 
very impulsive and easily led; she was only seventeen, 
and her mother, an ambitious woman, was preparing for 
a brilliant season in town, when the bomb exploded — 
their spoilt darling had eloped with the handsome young 
music-master, John Milner. 

Janet had counted on her parents’ doating affection; 
she had never doubted that after a time she would be 

86 


I Have Come to See You, Janet 87 


forgiven and restored to their favour. Her only brother 
was ten years younger than herself, and was seven. For 
many years there had been little hope of an heir, and 
there had been great joy at his birth. 

When Janet read her father's letter she nearly fainted 
with dismay and grief. She had committed the unpardon- 
able sin in her parent's eyes, and had disgraced the family 
name. From that day they would forget that they ever 
had a daughter, she was no longer a Vincent. All her 
girlish possessions and ornaments were forwarded to John 
Milner's house, and a registered letter containing a 
cheque for two thousand pounds was sent with a curt 
explanation. The money was a legacy from an aunt who 
had recently died, but Sir Walter wished the young 
couple to understand that Janet would never receive a 
penny from her parents. Poor Janet was utterly crushed, 
but for a long time she refused to abandon all hope of 
winning her parents' forgiveness. When she became a 
mother she wrote an appealing and humble letter to 
Lady Vincent, but no answer was vouchsafed her; and 
though she made another attempt at Kathleen's birth, 
there was still the same repellent silence. 

Once, when Hugh was four years old, Janet was 
walking with her boy in Hyde Park when she caught 
sight of the well-remembered Vincent liveries, and the 
next moment she and her mother were looking into each 
other's faces. Just then there was a block and the 
carriage came to a standstill. Janet had time to see the 
stony stare in Lady Vincent's eyes, and the grey set face. 
It was like a nightmare to Janet. She strove to speak, 
but the word Mother " was scarcely audible, and she 
could only cling to the railings for support. The next 
moment the carriage moved on. Janet was almost heart- 
broken as she sank down on a bench and clutched at 
her boy. Then, as she became conscious of the curious 
looks of the loungers near her, she hurried away. Come, 
Hughie," she said, as the child dragged unwillingly at her 
hand ; poor mother is tired and ill, and we must go 
home." But when they reached, at last, the little house 
in Acacia Road, Janet stumbled almost blindly into her 
husband's arms as he opened the door. 


88 


No Friend Like a Sister 


'' John — oh, John,’' she said, with a dry sob that seemed 
to tear her to pieces, ‘‘ I have seen mother, and she 
looked at me, but there was no recognition in her eyes.” 
Then John Milner took his wife into the adjoining room 
and tried to soothe her. 

‘‘ My dearest, you are not much changed, but it is 
just possible that she did not know you.” But Janet 
shook her head. 

‘‘ Mother knew me, but she will not know me for a 
daughter now. She looks much older and harder, and 
I think,” continued poor Janet almost hysterically, that 
I have turned her heart to stone.” Then, as John 
Milner strove vainly to find some word of comfort, she 
suddenly clasped him round the neck. 

‘‘ Oh, John, we must just love each other ; I have been 
a bad daughter, but to you I have been a good wife.” 

“ The dearest and best wife that a man could have,” 
he murmured, in a voice broken with emotion. ‘‘And 
it was I who tempted you and abused your parents’ 
confidence. If only I could bear all the punishment ! ” 

“ Hush,” she said tenderly, “ even now I would not 
undo it if I could. As long as I have you and Hughie 
and dear Baby I will not murmur.” But though Janet 
spoke bravely, there was bitterness in her heart for many 
a long day, and her fair face was often troubled. 

When Hugh was about fifteen, a strange thing hap- 
pened to Janet Milner. 

One afternoon late in the autumn, Janet was sitting 
in her little parlour with her mending basket beside her, 
when the maid informed her that a gentleman, who 
declined to give his name, was desirous of speaking to 
her; and Janet, thinking that it was some business con- 
nected with her husband, told the servant that she would 
see him. 

The next moment a tall, fresh-coloured, and exceed- 
ingly good-looking young man entered the room, and 
bowed to her in rather an embarrassed manner. 

“ Mr. Milner is out,” began Janet as she oflfered him 
a chair, “ and I do not expect him back for some hours ; 
but any information that I can give you ” 

“ Thanks,” in an odd, constrained voice, “ but my 


I Have Come to See You, Janet 89 


business is not with Mr. Milner. I — I — have come to 
see you, Janet. I am Harry — your brother Harry.'' 
Then Janet, with a little cry of amazement, seized his 
hands and turned him towards the dim light. 

‘‘ Harry," she repeated — “ my little brother Harry," and 
there was a sort of repressed ecstasy in her voice. ‘‘And 
I did not recognize you — but then it is so dark. Wait 
a moment, Harry, and I will light the lamp, and then we 
can see each other's faces." But Janet's hands trembled 
so that she could hardly perform her little task. 

The young man watched her curiously. As a little 
lad he had heard people tell his mother that Janet was 
a beautiful girl, but he could see few traces of beauty 
in the thin careworn face before him. She was a graceful 
woman, and her voice and manner recalled his mother, 
but he would never have guessed that she was a Vincent. 

“You do not remember me, Harry?" she said rather 
sadly ; “ but of course it is impossible." 

“ Well, I was such a kid, you see," he returned with a 
laugh, “ and children have short memories. I fancy 
you must find it rather difficult to recognise me." 

“ Oh, but I did not see you clearly," she returned 
eagerly ; “ you are so big and strong and sunburnt — but 
you are like father." 

“ That is what every one says." 

“ You were such a fair delicate little lad when I last 
saw you; you had had whooping-cough, and it had 
pulled you down so. Harry dear, I want you to tell me 
something — are mother and father well ?" 

“ They are perfectly well, Janet. As our old bailiff 
says — ‘ Sir Walter and Madam enjoy the best of health.' " 
Harry Vincent spoke lightly, but Janet was too much 
engrossed with grave thoughts to give him an answering 
smile. 

“ I am thankful to hear it. Do — do they know that 
you have come to see me ? " Then he shook his head. 

“ I don't mean to tell them " — and there was something 
boyish in his manner — “ what’s the use of having a row 
if you can avoid it. Loring — you remember old Loring, 
Janet?" — and as she nodded — “well, he has got a bit 
doity, and father has given him one of the lodges to live 


90 


No Friend Like a Sister 


in. He told me a long story about you and Milner the 
other day. I suppose the old fellow was right in his 
facts — and that you really ran away ? ’’ 

‘‘ Yes, I ran away,'' and Janet flushed rather proudly. 
It was a foolish and wrong thing to do, Harry ; but 
John and I loved each other so dearly, and we knew 
father and mother would never have given us permission 
to marry each other." 

Well, you are about right there," with a tolerant 
laugh. Do you know, Janet, I always thought things 
were much worse. I don't say that you and John Milner 
did not do rather a caddish thing, but all the same it was 
a beastly shame kicking you out of the nest like that." 

Then Janet's eyes filled with tears. ‘‘ Thank you, my 
dear brother," she said simply, as she took his hand and 
kissed it. 

It is awful rot," he went on, turning very red at 
this unexpected caress ; why should a Vincent think 
himself superior to other people ? There's mother always 
preaching to me that I owe a duty to my ancestors, — a 
rummy old lot they were too ! She has set her heart on 
my making what she calls a good marriage." 

You must try not to disappoint them, dear Harry," 
returned Janet with a sigh. 

Well, I don't believe the old lady would get over it 
if I followed your example," returned her brother with 
rather brutal frankness. There's father too, he has 
been awfully decent to me lately. He is sending me 
round the world because he knows I have a craze to go. 
I wish," hesitating, '' that I could smooth things a bit 
for you; but they would be just mad if they knew 
Loring had talked to me." 

Yes, I see," and Janet sighed again; you and dear 
old Loring must not get into trouble on my account." 
And then Hugh and Kathleen came in rosy and full of 
life from their walk, and shortly afterwards, to Janet's 
great joy, her husband returned unexpectedly. 

Harry Vincent behaved very well to his brother-in- 
law, and took a great deal of notice of his unknown 
nephew and niece. Hugh and Kathleen were charmed 
with this splendid new uncle, with his handsome face and 


I Have Come to See You, Janet 91 


genial manners and magnificent tips. The sovereign 
in Hugh's pocket seemed to burn his palm as he fingered 
it furtively from time to time. “ Uncle Harry is quite 
the nicest man we have ever seen after Dad," observed 
Kathleen enthusiastically. 

Harry Vincent shared the simple evening meal, and 
the brother and sister parted very aflfectionately. 

I wish I could do something for you," he murmured, 
as he kissed her; but Janet had made no audible response. 
Her heart was too full. 

He is a dear fellow," she said to herself, but they 
will be too strong for him ; he means well, and he is very 
lovable and sweet-tempered, but his facile nature is just 
one to be dominated by a stronger personality — he will 
be easily moulded by the Vincent will." And Janet 
wisely forbore to build any airy structure on the fact 
of her brother’s visit. It has been a great joy to 
me," she said to her husband, but I do not expect Harry 
will come again " — and she was right. 

Harry Vincent was absent for more than eighteen 
months, and twice during that time Janet had proof 
that he had not forgotten her existence. Some beautiful 
Indian stuffs and embroideries reached her, and later on, 
some Japanese curios. Harry’s love was scrawled on a 
piece of paper, but there was no address. 

Janet had a faint hope that on his return to England 
he might find her out again, but she did not really believe 
it. Two or three years later he wrote from some castle 
in Scotland, to tell her of his approaching marriage. “ I 
am engaged to Lady Doreen Glendower," he wrote ; my 
people are delighted and so am I, for Doreen is an awfully 
good sort." Janet put down the letter with a long strang- 
ling sigh. ‘‘ Mother will be pleased," she said with a 
pale smile that had the reflex of tears. 

It was after this that Janet fell ill. From the first she 
felt a certainty that she was struck for death, and it 
was then that she told her husband that she wished 
her children to know everything. 

Her story had thrilled Hugh. He was of an age to 
realise keenly the slow martyrdom of his mother’s life. 
So much had been denied her; it had been such a 


92 


No Friend Like a Sister 


narrow, meagre existence, so utterly monotonous and 
commonplace, and yet how her love had enriched and 
fertilised it, how patiently and sweetly she had endured 
her limitations ! But when he had stammered out some- 
thing of this, she had kissed him fondly. 

Hugh dear, when you have lived longer you will 
understand ; when one loves, the hard places seem 
smoothed somewhat, and one does not think so much 
of the thorns and flints. I have been very faulty, but I 
have not failed in love — I dare say so humbly, but I 
think it is true.’' 

‘‘ It is true ! Oh, mother, mother, how are father and 
Kathleen and I to live without you ! ” Then again the 
feeble, wasted arms drew the poor lad closer. He was 
her first-born, and from his birth she had gloried in him. 

I must leave you to our Father,” she whispered in 
his ear ; “ He knows what a mother’s loss means, and 
He will comfort my dear ones.” And then she gently 
bade him leave her, as she could talk no more. 

A day or two later, when her husband was sitting 
beside her, he asked her suddenly if he should send for 
her brother; but to his surprise she begged him not 
to do so. 

It would only distress him, and perhaps it would 
create an awkwardness between him and his young wife. 
She may not even know of my existence. He was to 
bring her to the Grange, you know ; they must have been 
there six months, but he has not answered my letter of 
congratulation.” 

“ Janet, my darling, would you like me to write to 
Lady Vincent ? ” But she shook her head. 

No, it is too late, and I am too weary for such a 
scene ; but, John, it was very dear of you to propose it. 
But I only want my husband and children. God knows 
that there is no bitterness in my heart now — that I have 
forgiven mother.” She paused here from sheer exhaus- 
tion; but after she had lain quiet a little she recurred 
to the subject. 

'' 1 have written to Harry,” she said; ‘^you will find 
the letter in the left-hand drawer of my writing-table, 
and I should like you to send it to him after my death. 


I Have Come to See You, Janet 93 

I have asked him to give my love to my father and 
mother.” 

Janet died peacefully with her hand in her husband’s. 
A few days after this talk, and by some strange coinci- 
dence, Sir Walter Vincent was struck down by a para- 
lytic seizure on the very day of his daughter’s death. 

John Milner sent on the letter to Harry Vincent, but 
unfortunately it never reached him. It was brought to 
Lady Vincent, and in the darkened room where the sick 
man lay stricken and helpless as a log, even her keen eyes 
had failed to recognise the handwriting. Harry was in 
Switzerland with his wife, and she had refused to recall 
them. They will be here in ten days, and Dr. Gathorne 
says there is no immediate danger,” she had said to a 
young relative who had corner* id her in the hour of 
trouble. '' Harry does not want his letters sent on unless 
they are urgent. You can just put this in the drawer 
of his bureau where he keeps his business letters, Connie.” 
But unfortunately Connie dropped poor Janet’s letter 
with its loving messages into an unused drawer, where it 
lay unread for many a long day. 

It was of this much loved mother that Hugh Milner 
was thinking as he lay weary and yet unable to sleep. 
Often and often as he recalled her confidence he had 
started up in his bed with the hot blood surging to his 
temples, sick at heart with the thought of the waste 
and pain of that sweet life. 

I hate them,” he would mutter — “ I hate them for 
making her suffer so, just because in her hot youth she 
made one false step. And she married a good man too, 
though his father was a tradesman. But could any one 
see a finer gentleman than dear old Dad, who never 
speaks an unkind word to any human creature, and would 
as soon murder a man as tell a lie? ” 

Hugh wondered vaguely why the memory of his 
mother haunted him so persistently that night. What 
was there about the younger Miss Gresham that recalled 
her so forcibly to his mind ? Elinor’s soft eyes, her gentle 
manner and cultured voice, had appealed to him and 
awakened the old longing for the mother love that had 
blessed his youth. 


94 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Miss Gresham is not beautiful, but somehow, as I 
told Kathleen, she reminds me of mother/’ he said to 
himself. ‘‘A cut above us, are they ? Perhaps so, in one 
sense; but Kathleen talks a lot of rubbish sometimes. 
What if we are poor, and father gives music-lessons, we 
come of a good old stock ! ” And Hugh reflected with 
some complacency that the blood of the Vincents was 
in his veins. I am the grandson of Sir Walter Vincent, 
and my uncle’s wife is an earl’s daughter, though we do 
live in that poky little house in Acacia Road,” murmured 
the young man a little drowsily, as the firelight flickered 
and burnt low, and a few minutes later he was asleep. 


XII 


A Transformation Scene 

The heavens were grey and dull and low, 

The earth was old and stained and sere, 

When God outspread His spotless snow, — 

A carpet for the coming year. — Anon. 

A PALE gleam of wintry sunlight woke Elinor the next 
morning, and she stole to the window. Her exclamation 
of delight roused Frances from a dream, and the next 
moment she had joined her sister. 

How beautiful it is ! ’’ she said softly ; it is a 
perfect transformation scene. King Snow is a magician 
— he just waves his wand and the shabby old world is 
clothed in this bridal garment.^' 

Oh, that is hackneyed,’’ laughed Elinor ; you should 
rather say that the world is new-born, and that this is 
hej; christening robe. Look at the soft folds of whiteness 
draping those meadows, so pure and unsoiled, not even 
the tiny print of birds’ feet anywhere.” 

It was certainly a lovely scene. The snow had fallen 
heavily during the night and covered everything, and 
the fair white landscape spread as far as eye could see ; 
the branches of the elms and sycamore on the lawn 
were bowed beneath their heavy weight. A robin, who 
could find no foothold for his tiny feet, had taken refuge 
on their window-sill. ' He was a knowing little fellow, 
and evidently quite tame ; for when Elinor softly opened 
the window to strew some crumbled biscuit, he did not 
attempt to fly away, but cocked his bright eye at her 
and began his breakfast. 

Rachel came in to light their fire and bring them 
hot water. She brought a good report of their visitors. 
Miss Milner had rested well, and Mr. Milner had ..betaken 
himself to the dressing-room that had been prepared for 
him. He had told Mrs. Deans that he felt perfectly fit, 
and that he would soon walk off his stiffness. 


95 


96 


No Friend Like a Sister 


We had better hurry now, for they will want to be 
off,’’ observed Frances ; and then they dressed themselves 
with all possible despatch. 

They found their visitors in the dining-room talking 
busily over the fire. Both of them assured their hostesses 
that they had rested well. 

I lay awake for an hour or two,” confessed Hugh, 
'' but I slept like a top after that. Kathleen beat the 
record, though ; she declares she went to sleep the 
moment her head touched the pillow, and she did not 
wake until the maid roused her.” 

I am so glad,” returned Frances, smiling at her. She 
was thinking how bright and sonsie the girl’s face looked 
— winsome was the word that expressed it best ; though 
it was rather pretty too, with those dark eyes and long 
curling lashes, and the clear healthy colouring in her 
cheeks. Hugh Milner too improved upon acquaintance; 
he seemed more at ease. 

There is something rather distinguished about him,” 
Elinor said afterwards to her sister, and he has a nice 
voice. Do you knov/, he reminds me of some one, but I 
cannot recall the name of the person. We know so 
many people. It is curious, but there is something in his 
voice and manner that seems familiar to me.” 

Frances seemed rather amused at this; but Elinor was 
quite in earnest. It was not Hugh Milner’s face, she went 
on, for she had not seen any one resembling him, it was 
merely a trick of manner, a certain timbre in the voice, 
that had struck her; but even now she could not believe 
it was her fancy. 

During breakfast, Flugh Milner informed the sisters 
that George Deans had told him that, though the snow 
was fairly deep in places, there was every probability 
of a partial thaw before night. 

I have a further favour to ask of you,” he continued, 
addressing Elinor ; if you would kindly give shelter to 
our bicycles in some outhouse, my sister and I can easily 
make our way to Tylcote. As I have an appointment 
with Mr. Morrell, Kathleen and I must start at once; 
and as soon as the roads are better, I will come over 
and fetch the bicycles.” 


A Transformation Scene 


97 


They will be quite safe here/’ returned Elinor, '' and 
even if the house is shut up, Mrs. Deans will have the 
key ; she is our caretaker at present.” And then, after a 
little more talk, Kathleen hurried off to put on her hat. 

As we expect to be neighbours of yours, I daresay 
we shall often meet,” observed Elinor, as Hugh rather 
diffidently tried to express his gratitude for her kind 
hospitality. 

Rather distant neighbours,” he returned smiling ; 

Tylcote Street is four miles from Meadow Thorpe.” 

‘‘ Oh, that is nothing in the country,” she replied 
cheerfully ; '' I suppose we shall have some sort of trap.” 

You will find that a necessity. Come, Kathleen, we 
must make tracks, and there is no time to lose. ^ Tread 
thou in my footsteps boldly,’ ” he went on, quoting from 
good King Wenceslaus. And then lifting his hat with a 
parting smile, Hugh Milner walked quickly down the 
white drive. 

Kathleen lingered for a last word with Frances, and 
then she hurried after him, very proud and happy because 
that dear Miss Gresham had kissed her. Frances was 
always caressing in her manner to young girls. ‘A nice 
little girl,” she said as she closed the door. But Elinor did 
not hear her. She felt vaguely disappointed by the young 
man’s lack of response to her friendly overtures. But 
when she hinted at this, Frances looked a little surprised. 

'' I am quite sure that Mr. Milner was pleased when 
you said that, Nora; and I thought he showed a very 
nice feeling. He does not wish to take advantage of 
our kindness. Some young men might have presumed 
under the circumstances ; he has behaved all through in 
a very gentlemanly manner ” — and this judicious view of 
the subject satisfied Elinor. 

They had an animated argument after this, when 
Frances was again victorious. Elinor voted for a walk — 
she thought a tramp through the snow would be fun — 
but Frances refused to entertain the idea for a moment. 

'Hf the snow were crisp and hard, I would be your 
woman,” she continued ; but it is melting already, we 
should get our feet wet and come back draggled and 
uncomfortable. Why should we not take exercise in- 
7 


98 


No Friend Like a Sister 


doors, and do the hole-and-corner business ? ’’ And 
Elinor rather reluctantly agreed to this. 

But she soon became interested, and the morning 
passed rapidly as they went from room to room inspecting 
beds, blankets, and curtains, and making notes of every 
deficiency. During luncheon they discussed the situation 
calmly. 

Of course, a good deal of the furniture is rather 
shabby and the worse for wear,’’ confessed Elinor, but it 
does not do so badly after all; and as it is only an 
experiment, and we may not be here for more than a 
year, it would be throwing money away to get new 
furniture.” 

I am quite of your opinion,” returned her sister 
briskly. But Elinor had not finished. 

'' Lyall will probably return next spring — at least his 
time will be up then — and of course Bride will have to 
join him.” 

Yes, and you could not remain here alone.” 

'' Well, I am not so sure about that,” returned Elinor 
rather dreamily. By that time I may have grown so 
attached to the place, that I may be unwilling to leave 
it. I shall certainly not return to the Boltons.” 

I should think not ! But you might come to St. 
Monica’s Lodge, Nora. But there, we will not waste time 
in discussing probabilities. Our future is on the knees of 
the gods, as Lyall used to say. Revenons a nos moutons. 
You are right about the furniture. Some new curtains 
and cretonne and a cushion or two will soon brighten 
up the drawing-room; and — well, perhaps a new carpet, 
for I must confess the old one is hideous.” 

'' Oh, I am glad you have given in about the carpet, 
Frances. And you will please remember that Bride and 
I mean to bring all our books and pictures and pretty 
things. Bride has her wedding presents — nothing would 
induce her to leave them behind. As this is her husband’s 
house, I shall expect her to be mistress, and I shall make 
her take the head of the table.” 

'' I don’t think Bride will approve of that. But you 
are quite right, Nora, the child has been too long in her 
shell. How soon do you mean to make the flitting? ” 


A Transformation Scene 


99 


'' About a week or ten days after Easter/’ was the 
answer ; '' that will be the middle of April. There is not 
the least need to wait for the mail, for Lyall always said 
that we could use the house if we liked, when the 
Shepherds left. But there is one hitch. What are we 
to do about Augusta’s reception ? Nothing on earth will 
induce us to be present.” 

‘‘ You and Bride must come to me for a day or two,” 
returned Frances promptly; even if we are full, you 
could share my room, Nora, and I will find a corner for 
Bride.” 

'' If Bride comes, Scrap will come too.” 

Oh, there will be a corner for Scrap too,” remarked 
Frances easily, and so the matter was settled. 

‘‘ What a comfortable person you are,” observed Elinor 
gratefully. “ I do love to see you wind off my tangles of 
worries and roll them up into a neat ball, all smoothed 
out, — a week-day and Sabbath blessing, that’s what you 
are, Frances ”; and then they both laughed, for this was 
an old joke, that belonged to very ancient history indeed. 

Elinor was quoting from a speech of an old pensioner 
of theirs who had just lost his wife. I am fair lost 
without my old woman,” he had observed tearfully ; a 
week-day and Sabbath blessing, that is what she was to 
me, and I never saw her like for sweeping and washing. 
I used to have my joke with her, young ladies. ' Bet,’ 
I says to her, ^ I often wonder what you will do with 
yourself when you gets to heaven, and you’ll have no 
more duds to rinse out, and golden floors won’t want 
sweeping, my woman.’ But, bless you, do you think 
Bet was beat by that? 

' Well, Job,’ she says, a bit soberly, ' I will have a 
talk with one of the wise gentlemen up there; I have a 
kind of feeling that Adam might give me a hint or 
two, for he was only a gardening man himself. It 
stands to reason,’ she went on, ' that I can’t sit with my 
hands before m*e and sing hymns, and I never could 
sing because of the husk in my throat, and I don’t know 
but golden floors might be the better for a bit of polish- 
ing.’ But then Bet was always saying droll things.” 

The afternoon passed pleasantly. Elinor was always 


LOFC. 


100 


No Friend Like a Sister 


content in her sister’s society ; it was sufficient happiness 
for her to know that the same roof covered them both; 
she did not even need to talk, if she could only raise her 
eyes from her book sometimes and meet Frances’ answer- 
ing smile — the quiet understanding and sympathy between 
them needed no outward demonstration. 

How she had suffered when Frances went to Guy’s 
Hospital! Even now, she never cared to think of those 
dreary weeks. “ When you left me,” she wrote in her 
first passionate distress, you took away all my sunshine 
with you. I suppose in time I shall learn to live without 
you, but my life seems very empty and bare.” This letter 
had wrung Frances’ heart. 

I miss you too, dearest Nora,” she wrote after a day 
or two, and I should be ashamed to tell you how much ; 
but you must not make it too hard for me, darling. We 
must do our work, you ^nd I. My vocation is to minister 
to sick people, I feel this more strongly every day; and 
your mission is to comfort poor Lyall by taking care of 
Bride.” But Elinor was not so easily comforted. 

But after a time the pain lessened; and when she 
saw how happy Frances was in her work, how her 
strong sympathies and tact fitted her for her labour of 
love, she grew more reconciled to the parting. For true 
love is never selfish; and when Elinor had fully realised 
that Frances’ strong, active nature needed a larger scope 
for its development, she at once acknowledged, with all 
sincerity, that her sister had acted wisely. 

When St. Monica’s Nursing Home had been opened 
Elinor began to reap the reward of her forbearance; 
her own borders seemed to be enlarged, and the blank 
margins of her daily life were full of interests. She 
was able to enjoy Frances’ society on less restricted 
terms. Frances had found her visits to the Boltons 
somewhat trying, but now Elinor could come to St. 
Monica’s as often as she liked, and those peaceful hours 
were much prized by both. Elinor used to call it her 
Fair Heaven. I don’t know how it is,” she would say 
quite seriously, ‘^but directly I find myself inside that 
garden gate, I feel a little like Christian, when his burden 
fell olf — I am a free woman.” And though Frances 


A Transformation Scene 


101 


smiled at this tender flattery, she understood what Elinor 
meant. 

There was little doubt that Frances was enjoying her 
holiday. How delicious it is to be idle ! ’’ she exclaimed, 
after a long nap in the twilight ; only a worker knows 
how to play properly.’’ 

That evening they had another visitor. They had not 
long finished their tea when Mrs. Deans came in to 
say that Mr. Keith was over at the farm cottage, and 
would like, if convenient, to wait on the ladies. Elinor 
sent back a gracious message, and in a few minutes the 
young farmer came across to the house. Lyall’s descrip- 
tion had already prepossessed them in his favour, and 
they were not disappointed. 

He was a strongly-built, broad-shouldered young man, 
quite of the Saxon type, fair-haired and blue-eyed, and 
much tanned by exposure to the weather, and his frank, 
open expression and lack of awkwardness impressed them 
favourably. In his rough suit and knickerbockers he 
would have passed for some country squire. He spoke 
too as though he were fairly well educated. 

“ Mother thought I ought to pay my respects to you 
two ladies,” he said with an air of modest assurance, as 
the sisters shook hands with him; '^she fancied there 
might be something I could do for you.” He looked at 
Frances as he spoke. 

That was very kind of you and Mrs. Keith,” she 
returned cordially ; but there is nothing we need for 
our few days’ visit — unless it be better weather. I am 
afraid you have had a disagreeable walk,” with a glance 
at the young man’s splashed boots. 

It was a bit wet and slushy in places,” he replied, 

but it will freeze again to-night — not that it means to 
last though. But I am afraid. Miss Gresham, that the 
roads will be greasy and slippery to-morrow; the sun 
was a trifle warm at midday, and just at the bend of the 
lane I waded through a regular snow-pond. I doubt I 
am hardly presentable to appear before ladies — though 
George managed to clean me up a bit.” 

'' Oh, that does not matter, Mr. Keith,” observed 
Elinor. 


102 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Young Mr. Milner and Miss Kathleen begged me 
to give you their kind regards/' he went on. 

‘‘ I hope Miss Milner is not the worse for her long 
walk, Mr. Keith ? " 

Not she," with a pleasant smile that showed his white 
teeth. ‘'Miss Kathleen is not one to give in; she just 
tripped across like a bird. Mother was sorely put about 
when she heard of all your trouble and inconvenience. 
Miss Gresham. We had not a doubt but that Mr. Milner 
and his sister were safe at the Greyhound at Maskell. 

‘ You need not be uneasy, old lady,' I said to her, ‘ for 
Mr. Milner has a head on his shoulders, and would not 
care to risk spending the night in a snow flurry.' But 
we were both as vexed as possible when we heard the 
truth." 

“All's well that ends well, Mr. Keith." Then, after 
a little more talk and another civil proffer of neighbourly 
assistance on the young farmer's part, Hammond Keith 
took his leave. 

“ That is what I call a good typical specimen of an 
English yeoman!" exclaimed Frances — “Broadcloth 
without and a warm heart within. I congratulate you 
on your neighbours." 

“ Yes, they are a decided improvement on the Brissac, 
Nugent, and Peyton clique," replied Elinor with a smile. 
“ Oh, I want to tell you something, Frances. I have just 
remembered the name of the person of whom Mr. Milner 
reminded me. It flashed upon me when you were 
napping." 

“Do I know him?" 

“ Well, you have met him once or twice at the Boltons, 
and I remember your telling me that you liked him. It 
was Sir Harry Vincent." 

“ Sir Harry Vincent ? I confess that I cannot see 
the least resemblance." 

“ Not in face, but in voice and m.anner," was the 
reply. “ Besides, you do not know him as well as we do. 
Bride and I always say he is our nicest visitor. But 
Augusta never cared either for him or Lady Doreen; 
you see, they are neither of them spirituali?"ts or Christian 
Socialists," with a meaning laugh. 


XIII 


“ He Is No Evangelist ” 

I love knowledge; I love intellect; I love faith, — simple faith 
yet more. I love God’s shadow more than man’s light. — Madame 

SWETCHINE. 

Character is an atmosphere rather than a sum of qualities. — 
Bishop Creighton. 

The next morning the outward aspect was decidedly 
uninviting; everywhere the snow was melting, and a 
fine mizzling rain added to the general dampness. Walk- 
ing was impossible under such unfavourable conditions, 
and the sisters resolved to spend an industrious morning 
making out inventories of needful articles. Both of 
them had provided themselves with needlework, but 
Elinor put aside hers cheerfully to help Frances finish 
some little frocks for a creche in which she was inter- 
ested ; and with books and work and conversation the day 
passed pleasantly and profitably. 

The following day a gleam of sunshine tempted them 
to brave the muddy roads, and to Rufus’s exuberant 
delight they sallied forth for a walk, returning a couple 
of hours later, splashed and rosy with exercise, and in 
excellent spirits. They had taken a wrong turning, and 
found themselves half-way to Masked Station. They had 
met a man in a cart who had given them information ; 
only two children and a dog had passed them, and an old 
horse had whinnied to them over a gate. Frances 
privately thought that Maida Vale was decidedly pre- 
ferable, but she kept this opinion to herself. 

The next day things had improved ; the sun shone 
steadily, and the air was quite soft and balmy. Every 
vestige of snow had disappeared, and acting on Mrs. 
Deans’s advice, they walked in the direction of Tylcote. 

Just as they were about to turn their faces home- 
ward, something occurred to interest them. They were 

103 


104 


No Friend Like a Sister 


just passing a detached cottage, when a beautiful little 
white Pomeranian dog flew down the front garden, 
barking coquettishly to attract Rufus’s attention. She 
was such an engaging little creature that both Frances 
and Elinor stopped to admire her. The next moment 
a lady came to the cottage door and called to her in 
rather an alarmed voice. 

You need not be afraid,” observed Elinor in a 
reassuring tone, “ Rufus never takes any notice of small 
dogs.” And then, as the little Pomeranian frisked round 
her, she picked her up and gave her to her mistress, who 
had hurried to the gate. 

Oh, thank you so much ! ” exclaimed the lady ner- 
vously, as she hugged her pet. Fairy is so naughty ; 
she will try and make friends with all the big dogs, and it 
frightens me so.” But here Fairy poked her black nose 
in penitent fashion into her mistress’s face, thereby 
hindering any further conversation, and then they both 
laughed; and with another word of thanks, the lady re- 
entered the cottage and the sisters walked on. 

What a sweet face ! I wonder who she is,” observed 
Elinor. 

Her voice was nice too,” returned Frances. ‘‘ I 
daresay Mrs. Deans could tell us.” But they had no 
opportunity of asking her that day, as she had gone over 
to Tylcote with her husband, and the next morning it 
had slipped from their memory. 

That afternoon they had unexpected visitors. Just 
before teatime the front door bell rang, and the next 
minute Hugh Milner and his sister were ushered into 
the room. 

They seemed pleased by the sisters’ cordial reception, 
and Mr. Milner explained that they had come to fetch 
their bicycles. I meant to have come over alone,” he 
observed, ‘'but Kathleen insisted on accompanying me. 
The roads are still pretty bad, but I daresay she will 
get on all right.” 

“You shall have some tea before you go back,” 
returned Elinor, ringing the bell as she spoke; and 
though Hugh seemed inclined to negative this, his objec- 
tions were soon overruled. Elinor was bent on hospi- 


He Is No Evangelist 


105 


tality; she declared laughingly that she and her sister 
had had enough of each other’s society. 

‘‘ Oh, do let us stay, Hugh,” whispered Kathleen 
naively; the evening is lighter, and we have our lamps.” 
And then the young man yielded. 

Perhaps he was only too willing to linger for a while 
in such pleasant environment, Elinor Gresham’s manner 
was so soft and gracious. Hugh felt a subtle sensation 
of warmth and comfort pervading him, as these two 
women, with their kind faces and gentle, well-bred air 
talked to him in so friendly a fashion; and they were 
soon conversing as happily as though they were old 
acquaintances. Frances questioned them about their 
morning walk through the snow ; then they talked about 
Mr. Keith’s visit; and finally Elinor asked if Mr. Milner 
knew the owner of a lovely little white Pomeranian dog 
named Fairy. It appeared that she had come to the right 
source for information. 

Oh, that was Miss Warburton of Tylcote Hall,” he 
returned readily — Miss Agnes people generally call her ; 
I don’t know why, for she has no sister. She and her 
mother live with the vicar; he is the Rev. Gale War- 
burton I told you about. When the old Squire died he 
left the Vicarage and came to live at the Hall.” 

I suppose it belongs to him ? ” 

‘‘ Yes, and he never cared for the Vicarage. He has 
a fine library there — two or three rooms full of books 
— and he spends most of the day over there. A couple 
of old servants live there and act as care-takers.” 

I suppose he does not care to live alone ? ” 

I think it is more for Mrs. Warburton’s sake,” replied 
Mr. Milner — the old Madam, as they call her in the 
village; though she is not so especially old either. She 
is a rather handsome little person and remarkably well- 
preserved, and she and her son are devoted to each other.” 

We thought Miss Warburton had such a sweet face,” 
observed Elinor; ‘^but she did not seem to me quite 
young.” 

Oh, I am no judge of ladies’ ages,” returned Hugh 
rather shyly; but Kathleen interrupted him. 

‘‘ Oh, I know Miss Agnes’s age quite well,” she said 


106 


No Friend Like a Sister 


eagerly, “ Mrs. Keith told me. She is just thirty. Do 
you know, Miss Gresham, I think her quite lovely, though 
she does look so sad. You see, she is so out in the cold, 
poor thing, and I am afraid she has rather a dull life of 
it. Mrs. Warburton isn’t nice to her; she thinks only 
of her son.” 

‘‘ Now, Kitty,” observed her brother in a remonstrant 
voice, there was no need to launch out into the War- 
burtons’ affairs in that reckless fashion; besides, it can- 
not possibly interest Miss Gresham.” 

'' Oh, you are wrong — quite wrong,” replied Elinor 
with unusual animation. ‘‘ I have fallen in love with Miss 
Warburton at first sight, and I am exceedingly interested 
in all you can tell me about her. I am afraid you will 
accuse us of gossiping, Mr. Milner, but I should dearly 
love to hear about my neighbours, and then unhappy 
people are so much more interesting than happy ones.” 

Oh, Nora, what a thing to say ! ” ejaculated her sister. 

'' I have heard you say it yourself, Frances, only in 
different words. Happiness is generally so exceedingly 
commonplace, but people who have a sad story in their 
past ” 

Oh, I don’t think Miss Agnes has any past story,” 
explained Kathleen, with a very obvious emphasis on 
the word past ” ; but I do think her home life is 
dreadfully dull. You see, Mr. Warburton is very learned, 
and is always shut up in his study, and his mother often 
shuts herself up with him, and the poor dear thing is 
left out in the cold.” 

I think it is time for me to see after those bicycle 
lamps,” exclaimed Hugh Milner rather abruptly ; if 
you will excuse me, Miss Gresham, I will light up and 
bring the bicycles round to the front door.” And as he 
seemed somewhat in a hurry, neither Frances nor Elinor 
made any demur to this. 

'' That is my fault,” observed Kathleen in a vexed 
voice as the door closed. Hugh never likes me to 
talk about the Warburtons. You see, he is grateful to 
Mr. Warburton for helping him to get all this work, 
and he never will say a word against him.” 

And he is not a favourite of yours ? ” 


He Is No Evangelist 


107 


“ I should think not ! '' indignantly. '' Not that I 
know him; I have never spoken a dozen words to him. 
Of course he is awfully clever. I believe he is a fine 
oriental scholar, and has written more than one book; 
but he is not like a clergyman — not like our nice Mr. 
Morrell — and he is such a stiff , unapproachable, proud sort 
of man, he is more like an iceberg than a human being.'' 

Dear me ! And yet he is so devoted to his mother ? " 

So Hugh says, and I suppose he knows. Anyhow, 
Mrs. Warburton perfectly idolises him. As I have never 
been invited to the Hall, I know really nothing about 
their home life; only sometimes Mrs. Keith tells me 
things. I really am afraid that neither her mother nor 
brother are quite kind to Miss Agnes, she gets dreadfully 
snubbed at times." 

I wonder she puts up with it at her age," remarked 
Frances, who seemed quite as much interested as Elinor. 

But probably Miss Warburton is one of those gentle- 
natured women who have not much backbone." 

“ Well, you see she is not specially clever," returned 
Kathleen, ‘‘ and the other two are such bookworms. Why, 
Mrs. Keith says that Mrs. Warburton is quite a good 
Latin and Greek scholar, though of course she does not 
read Hebrew and Sanskrit and hieroglyphics as her son 
does. I believe her father educated her — he was a Pro- 
fessor at Oxford." 

“ I think I grasp the situation," observed Frances. 
'' There is no similarity of taste between the mother and • 
daughter — that is always a pity." 

'' Yes, and then — but no, I must not say a word about 
that, or Hugh would be down on me. I know what his 
first question will be when we leave the house. ^ I hope 

you have said nothing about ' Oh, there he is," 

interrupting herself with a conscious little laugh. “Are 
the lamps lighted, Hugh ? " 

“ Yes, and we had better start, for it is getting dark 
already." But as Mr. Milner spoke he looked at her a 
little keenly. 

Kathleen was perfectly correct in her surmise, for as 
Hugh opened the gate for her, he said abruptly, “ I 
hope you did not say anything about Hammond Keith, 


108 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Kitten, when you were talking about the Warburtons 
just now/' 

No, indeed," returned Kathleen truthfully, I never 
mentioned his name. But I was very near it once," she 
added frankly. 

I know you are an awful chatterbox," he replied 
good-humouredly. '' I sometimes think women are very 
unscrupulous on this point; they talk about their neigh- 
bours' private affairs in the most barefaced way. What 
concern is it of ours if the Warburtons are rather a 
divided household ? " 

I see what you mean, Hugh," returned his sister 
humbly ; and I am afraid you are right, and that I am 
a sad chatterbox"; and with this naive confession the 
subject dropped. 

The weather continued propitious, and Sunday was 
so bright and sunny that Frances and Elinor decided to 
walk over to Sweet Hawes for the morning service. 

The neighbouring villages of Dewhurst and Sweet 
Hawes were in charge of one vicar, the Rev. Everard 
Monkton, but Mrs. Deans informed them that, owing to 
recent illness, he was at present away from home, and 
that clergymen from the parishes round were taking the 
services. I believe Mr. Morrell," she added, ‘‘ is to 
take the duty this morning. He is the rector of Mexfield 
and Tylcote Street, and they say he is a fine preacher." 

The sisters enjoyed their walk, and were much pleased 
with the little church and the service. Mr. Morrell had 
a good voice and delivery, and preached a simple, eloquent 
sermon. Both Elinor and Frances were prepossessed by 
his appearance. He was a good-looking man in middle 
life, and was evidently an earnest worker; there was 
something persuasive and tender in his admonitions, and 
as they left the church Elinor could not help saying that 
she wished Mr. Morrell were the vicar of Dewhurst. 

‘‘ You may like Mr. Monkton quite as well," returned 
Frances. Mrs. Deans says that the people are much 
attached to him, and that Mrs. Monkton is such a nice 
motherly woman." 

As the day continued fine, Elinor proposed that they 
should go to the evening service at Dewhurst, and take 


He Is No Evangelist 


109 


Rachel with them. They had walked there the previous 
afternoon and would have no difficulty in finding their 
way, and after a moment’s hesitation Frances agreed 
to this. 

It was quite a spring-like evening ; and as they strolled 
through the village a carriage passed them and stopped 
at the church gate, and a tall clergyman jumped out and 
helped out two ladies. Frances and Elinor recognised 
the younger one ; it was certainly Fairy’s mistress, Agnes 
Warburton. The sisters exchanged a glance of amuse- 
ment and unconsciously quickened their steps. As they 
reached the porch they found the two ladies still there. 
Mr. Warburton had retired to the vestry. 

A slight accident had occurred in descending from 
the carriage; Mrs. Warburton had caught her foot in 
her dress, and quite half a yard of braid was torn. Her 
daughter was evidently hunting fruitlessly for some pins 
to repair the damage. 

Frances, who always carried a little huswife for any 
possible emergency, at once offered her help. 

‘‘ I can make it quite safe for you in a moment,” she 
said, and Mrs. Warburton looked at once grateful and 
relieved. 

‘‘ That is so kind of you,” she returned graciously. 
'^Agnes, why do you not carry a pincushion about with 
you. Look at this charming little huswife.” 

Elinor, who was only a spectator at this little scene, 
looked curiously at the mother and daughter. 

Mrs. Warburton was a small but exceedingly dignified 
little woman ; she was well dressed and undeniably 
handsome, but Elinor thought the face was somewhat 
hard and the expression cold and rather repellent. Her 
daughter did not resemble her in the least; she had a 
thin delicate face, which looked a little worn, and her 
soft blue eyes had a sad and anxious expression. It 
was undoubtedly a sweet and attractive face, and any 
one looking at it would at once have felt that Agnes 
Warburton was a loving and good woman. 

When Frances had finished her little task, Mrs. War- 
burton gave her a brilliant smile and said a few words 
of than& ; and then they all moved into the church and 


110 


No Friend Like a Sister 


took their places. Frances and Elinor had seats imme- 
diately behind the Warburtons, and both the sisters were 
edified by Miss Warburton’s reverent behaviour and the 
extreme sweetness of her voice as she joined in the 
hymns and responses. 

The Rev. Gale Warburton, who performed the entire 
service, was a very striking-looking man. He was un- 
usually tall and thin, and looked about forty or a year or 
two younger. His features were fine; he had a dark 
moustache and a short well-trimmed beard which looked 
almost black, and he was slightly bald; the eyes were 
keen and brilliant, but a little cold. Frances said after- 
wards that in her opinion it was the face of a thinker, 
but not an idealist or an evangelist. 

Mr. Warburton had a beautiful voice; he read well 
but without any marked feeling, and both the sisters 
felt dissatisfied with the sermon. 

It was well written and well delivered, and in a sense 
it was perfectly simple, though it bore the traces of 
hard thinking and scholarship, but there was no attempt 
to impress this on the hearers. On the contrary, Mr. 
Warburton had evidently reminded himself that the ser- 
mon was to be preached to a village congregation; but 
there was no sacred fire of zeal burning under these short, 
concise sentences. The faith once delivered to the saints 
was preached in all truth and sincerity, but it left them 
cold. 

The sisters said little to each other as they walked home, 
for Rachel was with them ; but later on they talked 
over the sermon and the preacher. 

Frances was less critical and far more tolerant than 
Elinor. 

'' I must confess,’’ she said frankly, '' that Mr. War- 
burton interested me a good deal. What a fine head 
he has, and what a voice. He ought to be a Canon in 
some cathedral ; he is almost thrown away in a little 
village church.” 

Oh, there I agree with you,” returned Elinor. But 
all the time I was listening to that sermon, I was thinking 
how glad I was that Mr. Warburton was not my vicar. 
Oh, I know what you were going to say — that it was 


Ill 


He Is No Evangelist 

clever and well reasoned and original ; but it was stone, 
not bread. Do you suppose that those farmers and that 
nice reverent old woman near us felt helped and nourished 
by the spiritual food offered them this evening ? 

'' Of course, I know what you mean, Nora — I will 
even own that Mr. Warburton’s simplicity was a little 
studied; but somehow I think he meant all he said.” 
But Elinor shrugged her shoulders. 

Perhaps so,” she said drily ; '' the Evangel was there, 
but all the same he is no Evangelist. If I dared to say it, 
I could almost think he is no priest — not, at least, in the 
sense in which you and I interpret the word.” But to 
this Frances made no response, probably because she 
shared the same opinion. 


XIV 

Pax 


Your gentleness shall force 
More than your force move us to gentleness. 

Shakespeare. 

Gentleness is invincible. — M. Aurelius. 

Gently I took that which urgently came, 

And without scorn forgave — Do thou the same! 

Coleridge. 

It was with some reluctance that Elinor bade good-bye 
to Wildcroft the next morning. I have never enjoyed 
a holiday more/' she said regretfully, and Frances 
endorsed this. 

The few days' rest had refreshed and invigorated 
her, and she was now keen for work again. Frances 
was never content to be long away from St. Monica's 
Lodge, and not Elinor's society, much as she loved and 
valued it, could satisfy or still the longings for the life- 
task that was so dear to her heart. The old war-horse 
neighing at the sound of the trumpet illustrated her feel- 
ing as they drove from the station through the crowded 
streets; but Elinor shrank with sudden distaste from the 
noisy traffic, and wished herself back at Meadow Thorpe ; 
and Rufus evidently shared this feeling, when with droop- 
ing head and dejected tail he endured his mistress's 
parting caresses, — the delightful freedom of the last 
few days only made his present existence more irksome. 

Patience, old fellow, it will only be for a time," 
observed Elinor cheerfully. She had parted with Frances 
and Rachel, and was now on her way to the Boltons. 
And as she went up the steps she wondered what sort 
of reception she would get from Augusta, and her heart 
sank a little. Bride was on the watch for her ; she 
welcomed her as though she had been absent for a year. 
Bride was always emotional. 

Oh, you dear thing, how glad I am to see you ! " 

112 


Pax 


113 


she exclaimed, as she linked her arm in Elinor’s and 
conducted her almost forcibly into the drawing-room. 

Oh, I have such good news for you. Gussie has gone 
to the Conways for two nights ; she went off this morn- 
ing. Of course she said nothing about it until breakfast- 
time. I had quite hard work to conceal my delight. Now 
we shall have two evenings all to ourselves.” 

Oh, I am so glad. Bride! Frances wants us to 
spend to-morrow afternoon at St. Monica’s Lodge; she 
says it is ages since you were there, and she thinks it 
will be nice to talk over things together.” 

'' It will be perfectly delicious,” gushed Bride. '' Nora 
dear, I hope that you are not tired, for you will have 
to talk hard all the evening, for there is so much I want 
to hear.” And as Elinor was quite ready to oblige her, 
Bride certainly had her innings. 

They passed the two days happily, and then Augusta 
returned, and the interregnum of peace was over. 

Augusta had by no means forgotten her wrongs. She 
was still deeply offended with her sisters. Her manner 
to Elinor was so chilling and aggressive that it might 
almost have been termed hostile. She was not the woman 
to bear injuries meekly, or to turn the other cheek when 
a blow had been inflicted, and she was far too proud 
to pose as a martyr. 

She took the line of entirely ignoring all the new 
arrangements. Wildcroft and Meadow Thorpe might 
have been wiped out of her memory with a sponge ; she 
asked no questions, made no mention of Frances, and 
only dwelt briefly on her own affairs when the servants 
were in the room; but as soon as the door closed upon 
them there was no further attempt at conversation, and 
Elinor and Bride were obliged to take refuge in their 
books, or to talk to each other in an undertone. 

The evenings were the worst time. During the day 
they were either out or busy in their sanctum. Shopping 
had begun in earnest; the new carpet, the cretonne, the 
piles of fresh muslin curtains had all been selected and 
were now on their way to Wildcroft. Before long, books 
and pictures and ornaments were being packed. More 
than once Augusta came face to face with the carpenters. 

8 


114 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Elinor once had to explain matters. We are obliged to 

get Cobbett’s men to pack the pictures and china ’’ she 

began ; but Augusta turned on her with a frown. 

‘‘ I have no wish to hear of any of your arrangements,” 
she said haughtily. “ I quite wash my hands of you both. 
You are behaving disgracefully. I am ashamed from my 
heart at having such sisters.” But Elinor, who saw one 
of the maids approaching them, hurried away; her face 
was burning. How could Augusta be so blind, so utterly 
dense, she wondered ? Why did she not realise the truth 
that it was she who was failing in sisterly consideration, 
who was driving them from their home? 

There are none so blind as those who refuse to see, 
and Augusta Gresham, hard, resentful, and embittered 
with her own grievances, persisted in regarding Elinor 
and Bride as culprits. One day Augusta, returning from 
Madame Brissac’s, saw Bride's piano — a present from her 
husband — being carried out to a small van. Bride was 
at the door watching the men. She flushed apprehen- 
sively when she saw her sister-in-law ; but Augusta took 
no notice, she swept past her with a rustle of silken 
linings. She held her head high and her eyes were a 
little fierce, but she spoke no words. Bride rushed 
upstairs to Elinor. She was on the brink of tears. She 
would not speak to me,” she said ; '' and oh, Nora, if 
you had seen her face ! ” 

It cannot be helped,” returned Elinor in a tired voice. 

Gussie is impossible just now. I tried to tell her at 
breakfast that the men were coming about the piano, 
but she would not listen. I expect she will not speak to 
either of us during the remainder of the day ” — and 
Elinor was right. 

The next day she and Bride were going to St. Monica’s 
Lodge. Augusta’s unlucky party had been fixed for the fol- 
lowing evening, and Elinor thought it would be better for 
them to be out of the way before the preparations began. 

As soon as the cab was at the door, Elinor went to the 
morning-room to bid her sister good-bye. Bride had 
declined to accompany her. Augusta had treated her 
with such marked rudeness during breakfast that Bride 
refused to go near her again. ‘‘ She will understand 


Pax 


115 


why I do not come/’ she said; and Elinor did not dare 
to press the point. 

“ I have come to say good-bye, Gussie,” she observed 
with forced cheerfulness. Then Augusta, who was at her 
writing-table as usual, merely stared at her. Her face 
wore a hard expression. 

‘‘ Surely you remember that Bride and I are going to 
St. Monica’s Lodge?” continued Elinor. '‘Frances 
wishes us to remain until Monday. I gave you Frances’ 
note to read at luncheon yesterday.” 

" Perhaps so,” returned Augusta drily ; " but all the 
same I did not read it — other people’s notes do not inter- 
est me. I see the cab is waiting, so pray do not let me de- 
tain you.” Then her temper rising, " I wonder what our 
friends will think of your behaviour to-morrow night ? ” 

" That is of no moment,” returned Elinor with unusual 
firmness, for Augusta’s tone and manner were peculiarly 
galling. " Bride and I are quite willing that they should 
know the truth. You have only yourself to blame, Gussie, 
if the whole thing is a failure. If you had only put those 
invitation cards in the fire as I begged you to do; but 
you would not listen to me.” 

" I am too busy to listen to you now,” replied her 
sister in the same hard voice. Then Elinor, feeling it 
was useless to continue the conversation, stooped down 
and kissed the half-averted cheek. A muttered good-bye 
was the sole response. Augusta was in one of her 
blackest moods. She had made a mistake and she knew 
it, and she would have to pay dearly for her folly. In her 
present mood she was not sorry to have the house to 
herself, but all the same it was a bitter thing to her 
that Elinor had been triumphant. 

Elinor was rather low and unlike herself for the 
remainder of the day; but Frances, who understood 
her thoroughly, asked no questions until Bride had retired 
to her room, then they quietly talked over things. 

" Poor dear Nora,” she observed affectionately, '' it is 
terribly trying for you, and there are still three weeks 
or more before the flitting.” 

'' Yes, three weeks and three days,” returned Elinor 
in a dreary tone. " Do you know, Frances, it is getting on 


116 


No Friend Like a Sister 


my nerves. I am determined not to quarrel, but I feel 
that one of these days I must speak my mind to Augusta. 
I have been pretty patient on the whole, but I have 
come to the end of my tether.’' 

But Frances refused to endorse this ; and before they 
slept that night she had encouraged Elinor to take a 
more hopeful view of things. 

The few days spent at St. Monica’s Lodge was a 
time of real refreshment to Elinor and Bride ; and when 
they went back to the Boltons they were both resolved 
to spend the three weeks as peacefully as possible. 

Augusta received them coldly, but her temper had 
mended a little; she had affairs of her own that seemed 
to engross her, and she took little notice of either of 
them ; but Elinor thought that her manner to Bride was 
rather more conciliatory. She seemed unwilling to be 
left alone with them, however, and Madame Brissac or 
Mrs. Oscar Nugent was generally there; or when their 
absence was unavoidable, Augusta dined out. 

Frances, who paid frequent visits, was sure from her 
manner that she was anxious to avoid any awkward 
conversation with Elinor, and that she intended to have 
no special leave-taking. She spent the greater part of 
Holy Week with Mrs. Nugent, and Bride and Elinor 
passed Easter Sunday alone. The evening before they 
were to leave home, Augusta sent down word by the 
maid that she was tired and that her head ached, and 
that she would not come down to dinner; she would 
have a little soup in her own room, and go to bed early. 

Very well. Perry,” returned Elinor quietly. But 
when the maid had left the room she said to Bride, ‘‘ I 
am not surprised, I thought Gussie did not look well at 
luncheon, she had such black lines under her eyes ; she has 
been up late the last two nights, and she does far too 
much, she is wearing herself out.” 

'' She has looked much older lately,” replied Bride ; 

she is losing her good looks. Lady Templeton was 
saying so yesterday ” ; and then, as the gong sounded, 
they went down to the dining-room. 

As soon as the meal was over, Elinor announced her 
intention of going up to see Augusta. 


Pax 


117 


‘‘ I should not advise you to do that/' was Bride's 
reply; but Elinor only smiled and vanished. 

She knocked at her sister's door, hardly waiting for 
permission to enter. ‘‘ I have come to see how you are, 
Gussie," she said pleasantly ; Perry tells us that you 
have a bad headache." 

‘‘ You need not have troubled yourself," returned 
Augusta ungraciously ; my headache is better, but I 
am tired, and I was just thinking of going to bed; I had 
very little sleep last night." 

No indeed, it was nearly three when you came home," 
returned Elinor. But as she looked at her sister's worn 
face. Bride's words recurred to her. Augusta was un- 
doubtedly losing her beauty; her face looked older and 
thinner, and there was a suspicious redness about the eye- 
lids as though she had been weeping — ^Augusta, who so 
rarely shed tears, who was so sternly repressive of any 
such feminine weakness. Elinor felt a sudden pang of pity 
as she regarded her. ‘‘ Dear Gussie, you look worn out," 
she said gently ; “ you do far too much for your strength. 
Do not go to bed just yet, let me stay and talk to you 
a little " ; for some indefinable instinct told her that 
Augusta was lonely and sick at heart. She was sitting 
by the fire in an easy-chair, and the rich colour of her 
handsome tea-gown only accentuated her paleness. It 
was evident to Elinor that her malady was more mental 
than physical, that some softer mood of depression was 
on her to-night. 

‘‘ I do not think talking will do a headache good," 
she returned, but there was nothing repellent in her 
manner. Elinor almost fancied that Augusta was not 
unwilling that she should remain. The headache might 
safely be ignored, so Elinor, without waiting for any 
further invitation, drew up a chair beside her sister. 

Gussie," she said quietly, and there was something in 
her voice that soothed Augusta's jarred and tormented 
nerves, I am so glad to have this opportunity of saying a 
quiet word or two to you before we go away. I want you to 
know that, though we are taking this step, there is no bit- 
terness or want of kindness in our hearts to you, that we 
are parting friends ; you will believe this will you not ? " 


118 


No Friend Like a Sister 


I am not sure that I understand/' returned Augusta 
dubiously. You and Bride have peculiar notions on the 
subject of friendship; perhaps you will tell me next 
that you are breaking up the household for my good ? " 
There was a suppressed sneer under Augusta's words, 
but she spoke without temper; her manner was listless, 
almost hopeless. 

Elinor hesitated a moment. 

I think it will be for your good as well as ours," 
she returned steadily ; ‘‘ nothing can be more deteriorat- 
ing to the character than all these bickerings and divisions, 
or more harassing to the nerves. 

‘‘We have tried to pull together and have failed ; we 
are too unlike, you and I, Gussie, and it is not in your 
nature to give other people enough scope. Neither I nor 
Bride have had fair-play, — forgive me if for once I speak 
plainly." 

Augusta was silent. With all her faults, want of truth 
was not among them, and she could not deny that Elinor 
was right : she had asserted her own will all these years, 
and her imperious and arbitrary temper had destroyed 
the peace and happiness of the household ; and now she 
was to be left alone, and there would be no more con- 
flicting wills or wrangling of incessant arguments. 

“ Gussie," continued Elinor in her soft, persuasive 
voice, “ I want you to say some little comforting word 
to me, that I may go away more happily to-morrow. 
We have not quarrelled, and we must part like sisters 
who think it is better to live apart. If you ever need me 
I shall be ready to come to you at once, and there is 
nothing that I will not do to help you." 

“ Except stay with me," and there was deep under- 
lying bitterness beneath Augusta's words. Elinor's eyes 
filled with tears. “ I cannot do that, Gussie — I have 
passed my word to Bride." 

Augusta turned away her face and stared fixedly into 
the fire. She was fighting a fierce battle with herself. 
With all her hardness, she was vulnerable on one point. 
Elinor was very dear to her. Of her two sisters she 
had always loved her best ; her softness and adaptability, 
and the placidity of her temperament, had hindered a 


Pax 


119 


good deal of friction, and Augusta knew well that it was 
only her own selfish tyranny that had brought things to 
this crisis. Augusta Gresham was not a bad woman, but 
her nature needed the sunshine of happiness to soften and 
enrich it ; it had grown dry and arid with thwarted affec- 
tion. An angry, embittered woman is not likely to be a 
wise ruler of a household, or to promote the happiness of 
a family circle. 

Augusta’s conscience was awake at last, and Elinor’s 
persistent gentleness conquered. A few moments later 
she turned to her. '' Nora,” she said quietly, “ you are 
right, and I have not always treated you and Bride well. 
I never thought to own this, but to-night I feel as though 
I can speak. I wish ” — here her lip trembled a little — 
that I had made you both happier, and then you would 
not have been driven to this. But ” — in a still sadder 
tone — it is best as it is. I cannot alter my nature, and 
perhaps you are right, and it will be for my good too; 
and if I am lonely, I have only myself to thank for that.” 
‘‘ Dear Gussie, you have so many friends ! ” 

‘‘ Yes,” she returned with a strange smile, ‘‘ with friends 
and work, there is no need for loneliness, and I shall do 
very well. I suppose I shall hear from you sometimes ? ” 
‘‘ I will write to you every week if you wish ! ” ex- 
claimed Elinor impulsively. But Augusta shook her head. 

‘‘ No, I shall not need that ; only a note now and then 
to tell me that all is well with you. I have some idea 
of travelling, but I have not made arrangements yet. 
If I do this, I shall give up the house. I have always 
so longed to see Japan and India. When I have made 
my plans, I will let you and Lyall know.” 

Oh, Gussie dear, that will be splendid ; it will do you 
so much good to go about and see the world.” 

Perhaps so, but when I come back I shall be the same 
Augusta; if one could only change one’s personality, 
drop it overboard in the Pacific ” — with a dreary little 
sigh — and come up some one else. But there, I am 
getting light-headed for want of sleep, and I must really 
send you away. Give my love to Bride — I cannot see 
her to-night.” And then they kissed each other, and 
Elinor left the room with a lighter heart. 


XV 


In Pastures New 

Thick green leaves from the soft brown earth, 

Happy spring-time hath called them forth; 

First faint promise of summer blown 
Breathes from the fragrant, sweet perfume 

Under the leaves. Anon. 

As a countenance is made beautiful by the soul’s shining 
through it, so the world is beautiful by the shining through it 
of a God. — ^Jacobi. 

Elinor Gresham stood in the porch of Wildcroft, 
looking over the fair prospect that lay before her, bathed 
in the sweet April sunshine. Since her last visit the 
Fairy Order had been visibly at work ; the garden paths 
were weeded and rolled, and the lawn cut and trimmed. 
Here and there in the borders a few daffodils reared 
their golden heads, and in a sheltered nook by the house 
there was a brave show of colour in a mass of dark red 
wall-flowers and a fine old rosy ribes. 

There had been showers earlier in the day, but now 
the sunshine had regained the mastery; but there was a 
tender freshness over everything, a vivid colouring that 
one only sees in spring, and which is the result of “ clear 
shining after rain.'^ 

Everywhere there was a sense of growth and young 
life. The fresh green leafage that shaded the great trees 
on the lawn, with their wealth of hidden nests, the busy 
whirring of bird wings darting hither and thither, the 
broad stretch of undulating meadow where the cattle 
browsed peacefully on the new, juicy herbage, or rumin- 
ated in slow content, even Rufus basking placidly in a 
sunny corner of the lawn, with Scrap curled up near 
him, added to the pleasant idyllic effect. 

Upstairs Bride was singing as she moved to and fro; 
the rich full tones floated through the open window. 
Elinor smiled as she listened. 


120 


In Pastures New 


121 


She is very happy,” she said to herself ; Lyalhs letter 
has satisfied her for once. He is so pleased that I have 
brought her here ; he calls it ‘ a masterly move.’ He was 
always a little afraid of the social atmosphere of the Bol- 
tons for Bride.” And then Elinor mused with secret con- 
tent over the remembrance of the letters that had reached 
them that morning — two from Lyall, and one long chatty 
letter from Frances, deeply interesting as usual. 

They had been a week at Meadow Thorpe, and Bride 
had asserted that very morning that she felt as though 
they had been settled for months. It is a dear place, 
and I simply love it,” she went on ; '' the air is glorious ; 
when I run out in the sunshine, I feel as exhilarated as 
if I were imbibing some wonderful tonic. And oh the 
peace, Nora, it is like a new life — as though the old, ugly, 
tiresome past, with its frets and jars, were wiped away, as 
one sponges a slate.” And Elinor had assented to this 
with all her heart. 

Yes, they had been here a whole week, and how short 
it had seemed — the days had not been long enough for all 
they had to do. 

And yet they had had no lack of willing helpers. For 
two days Kathleen Milner had cycled over from Tylcote 
Street quite early in the morning, and had helped them 
in a hundred ways ; and each evening, when her brother 
had come with the ostensible pretext of escorting her 
back, he had thrown off his coat and set to work, proving 
himself a skilful carpenter and picture hanger; and as 
on one occasion Hammond Keith had also offered his 
services, the books were soon unpacked and in their 
places, and Elinor and Bride were able to turn their 
attention to the cretonne coverings for the drawing-room. 

Bride was very clever with her fingers, and often 
boasted that if evil days should come she was never likely 
to starve. I should set up for a working upholsteress,” 
she would say, and earn my dinner and half-a-crown a 
day. I think it would be rather fun — one would see life 
under a novel aspect.” And Frances, who had overheard 
this remark, had applauded the sentiment. 

It is not a bad idea,” she had returned, ‘‘ and I don’t 
see why it should not work out well. Every woman, in 


122 


No Friend Like a Sister 


my humble opinion, ought to know some trade, which 
would provide her with a modest independence in any 
urgent necessity. And I say again that Bride’s notion 
of a working upholsteress is rather good.” 

‘‘ I should be sure of two square meals in the day,” 
remarked Bride, who delighted to air original and far- 
fetched theories ; and it would be rather pleasant 
sewing in a warm, sunny bedroom. Only I am afraid 
an upholsteress ought not to sing over her work ” — and 
here Bride made a wry face. 

The household at Wildcroft consisted of a cook, a 
Lincolnshire woman who had been strongly recommended 
by Mrs. Keith, Rachel, and a young girl from Mexfield, 
Jenny Dunscombe by name, who was to be trained for 
parlour work. Elinor thought that two servants ought to 
have been sufficient for the modest menage, but she had 
found herself confronted by a difficulty. Rachel, who was 
an admirable housemaid and needle-woman, objected 
strongly to table work, and as both she and Bride were 
loath to part with her, they mutually agreed that another 
maid should be added to the establishment. 

Hammond Keith, who had taken upon himself to act 
as their right hand and adviser, had found them a useful 
man to work in the garden and take care of the future 
horse and trap. His name was Joseph Twitchett, and he 
was a native of Dewhurst. 

Elinor had not taken to him at first, but she soon 
found out her mistake; under the somewhat rough and 
unprepossessing exterior there was real grit and worth. 
Indeed, Joe Twitchett’s character seemed as uncommon 
as his name. He was a tall, angular young man, rather 
awkward in manner and hesitating in speech, and his 
strong-featured face, with its high cheek bones, was far 
from handsome, but Elinor thought he had honest eyes. 
When she made this remark to Hammond Keith, the 
young farmer had smiled. 

'' Oh, Twitchett’s as honest as the day,” he replied, '' or 
I should never have recommended him to you ladies. I 
don’t say that he is particularly clever or that he would 
be likely to suit if you wanted a skilled gardener ; but he 
is a decent chap, and hard-working and industrious. 


In Pastures New 


123 


'' He has been a bit down on his luck lately through 
losing his master, and I have been giving him odd jobs 
about the place. You see, Miss Gresham, when a man 
has a wife and two children, it is a trifle awkward to be 
thrown out of work in the winter. Mrs. Twitchett 
is a respectable, capable little woman, though rather deli- 
cate. Joe is tremendously proud of her and his little 
girls.” 

I don’t doubt that he will do very well for the 
garden,” returned Elinor rather hesitatingly ; '' but when 
we have our pony-cart, I don’t think he will look very 
smart or groom-like.” 

Wait until you see him in livery,” returned Hammond 
Keith ; “ he won’t look so bad as you think. Joe is a 
good driver, and he is kind to animals. He has done a 
good bit of carting for me this winter, and I found that 
his stable work is quite satisfactory. Well, I must be off 
now, for I have to meet Farmer Davis in the Hundred 
Acre field. To-morrow I am going over to Leicester, 
and I mean to have a look at the cart and mare that Mr. 
Sedgwick intends to sell.” 

I am afraid we are giving you a great deal of trouble, 
Mr. Keith,” observed Elinor. '' What should we have 
done without you? for neither my sister-in-law nor I 
know much about horses.” 

Very few ladies do,” returned the young farmer ; it 
is more in my line of business. As for trouble. Miss 
Gresham, you have no need to mention the word, for it 
is just in the day’s work, and I am over at Leicester most 
market-days. Well, I will go up to Parkhurst and 
have a look at. the mare. I suppose you will give me a 
free hand about price, if the terms are reasonable ? ” 

Oh yes, I am quite sure that we can rely on your 
judgment ” ; and with this understanding they parted. 

Elinor was expecting Hammond Keith this afternoon ; 
he had sent word by Mrs. Deans that he would look in 
shortly. On her way to the little Wilderness by the 
gate, where Twitchett was at work, she had seen him 
ride past on his handsome brown mare, and had admired 
both horse and rider. 

‘‘ He is like a Viking,” she said to herself — fair- 


124 


No Friend Like a Sister 


haired and blue-eyed and debonnaire, and how well he 
rides. I like him thoroughly; one feels so safe with 
him — that he will never presume or try to appear any- 
thing but what he is — a respectable English yeoman. 
It is evident that Mr. Milner has a high opinion of him. 
I hope we shall like his mother equally well '' — for Elinor 
and Bride were to have tea at Crow Farm the following 
afternoon. 

Elinor was expecting him now, as she walked up and 
down the sunny drive. There was a balmy warmth in the 
air, and now and then the light breeze brought her a 
fragrant whiff of sweet-brier. In the big elm on the 
lawn an owl had its nest. The previous night, as Elinor 
was just sinking into her first sleep, she had been roused 
by the weird note, as the nocturnal hunter swooped down 
on some unlucky field-mouse in the meadow. The fierce 
war-cry seemed to jar on her ears, for it seemed to 
convey the idea of some subtle danger menacing the 
innocent. 

Everywhere the hunter and the hunted! But then 
a self-respecting owl, with a wife and family to maintain, 
is bound to provide his larder with good things; and 
from Mr. Fluffy’s point of view, field-mice and young 
birds, and even a baby rabbit, are dainty eating. But 
to the trembling, bright-eyed mouse the swoop of those 
talons was but a death-warrant. 

The sun was so hot that Elinor turned into the tiny 
lime walk leading to the ruins, and here she stood lean- 
ing on the little gate. It was a favourite spot with her 
and Bride. Centuries ago, the Croft Church had been 
the parish church, until Cromwell’s Roundheads had 
destroyed it. Later on, a little graveyard had been in the 
ruins. One arch and the font were in good preservation, 
but so many bricks had been removed, that only the 
foundation of the walls remained, with here and there 
a broken heap, where in summer tall nettles and rank 
grass flourished. The graves were few and quite uncared 
for ; but now and then a stranger staying for a passing 
day at Mexfield, Dewhurst, or Sweet Hawes would 
make a pilgrimage to the Croft Church, and take their 
way through the long grass and nettles to read the well- 


In Pastures New 


125 


nigh obliterated inscription of a railed-in tomb in a shady 
corner, where some vicar had been laid to rest. Elinor 
had been surprised to hear that now and then there were 
baptisms in the old ruins, and that not so many years 
before, the marriage service had been read over an 
elderly pair. The man had lived fifty years in Dewhurst, 
and the bride, who was not much younger, had spent her 
life in Sweet Hawes. Neither of them had been further 
than Tylcote and Mexfield, and Dan Winter had stoutly 
refused to be wedded '' unless th' ould parson would tie 
him and Liza up in the Croft Church.” 

Elinor, lulled by the deep silence, was fast falling into 
a daydream. It was so still that she could hear the soft 
crunching of Mr. Keith’s Alderneys as they tore at the 
crisp herbage on the other side of the fence; and she 
could even hear the sharp switch of their tails against 
the tree-trunks. How blue the sky was, and how un- 
clouded! A little grey moth flitted like a tiny embodied 
soul between the graves; at the foot of a rubbish heap 
the large handsome leaves of the common dog violet 
made a pale green light — the flowers were over — and on 
a mass of broken masonry one yellow primrose peeped 
out half-timidly. 

Elinor was about to unlatch the gate when the sound 
of brisk footsteps roused her, and the next moment 
Hammond Keith was beside her. 

The maid told me you were in the garden. Miss 
Gresham, so I knew I should find you here. Isn’t it a 
neglected little corner? One can scarcely walk across it 
for nettles and plantain.” 

'' So Mr. Milner tells us,” returned Elinor. He has 
quite a craze for the place, and he seems so vexed to 
see it left in such a state. We are going to get Twitchett 
to clear a little when he has time; but there is so much 
to do in the garden and orchard, and Mrs. Gresham 
has set her heart on turning the Wilderness into a regular 
wild garden. We want to plant dozens and dozens of 
primroses, dog violets, daffodils, and hyacinths, and all 
sorts of hardy woodland plants.” 

‘‘ The idea is pretty enough, but the Wilderness will 
want a spring clean first,” returned Hammond Keith, 


126 


No Friend Like a Sister 


smiling. '' Last June I went through it ; but I was 
nearly driven back by a perfect cloud of moths which 
seem to hold high revels there ; and as for the docks and 
nettles and ground fungus — why I was nearly tripped 
up half-a-dozen times. Not but what good work could 
be done there with time and patience.’' 

‘‘ My sister and I both mean to turn our hands to 
gardening,” returned Elinor cheerfully. '' Our knowl- 
edge is limited, I am afraid, but our zeal is great, and we 
shall not be too proud to learn. But I am hindering 
you and taking up your time, and you have come to 
tell me about Mr. Sedgwick’s mare.” 

Well, she is a beauty, Miss Gresham, and no mis- 
take,” and Hammond Keith spoke with enthusiasm. 
‘‘ Small head, clean limbs, and no vice to speak of; just 
a little skittish and playful, as all young things are, but 
as gentle as a lamb. I knew as I handled her that 
the groom had not said a word too much in her praise.” 

‘‘ I wonder that Mr. Sedgwick cares to sell such a 
fine animal.” 

‘‘ Well, he seems to regret parting with her, and he 
is so anxious to get her into good hands, that he would 
be willing to meet our terms. You see, they are giving 
up the place for a year or two, as Mrs. Sedgwick is 
ordered abroad; and as his daughter is marfied and in 
town, he has no more need of the cart. He took me into 
the coach-house ; it is a smart little turn-out — a low sort 
of dog-cart, but roomy and comfortable for ladies, and 
just suitable for the country; and it is as good as new, 
and capital harness, and I don’t think the figure at all 
high.” And when Mr. Keith named the sum, Elinor was 
disposed to agree with him. 

I do not see any reason why you should not at once 
close with Mr. Sedgwick’s offer,” observed Elinor. But 
Mr. Keith demurred to this. Both he and Mr. Sedgwick 
would prefer her to see the trap. 

I am going over to Leicester the day after to-morrow 
on some business of my own, and I made bold to say, 
Miss Gresham, that I might possibly induce you and Mrs. 
Gresham to accompany me. Parkhurst is only a couple 
of miles from the station, and Mr. Sedgwick proposes 


In Pastures New 


127 


that the cart and mare should meet us, and you should 
be driven up to Parkhurst. I daresay I shall get a lift, or 
if not I can easily walk up. They are very hospitable 
people, and I know they will offer you luncheon and make 
you comfortable.’' 

That really seems an excellent arrangement,” re- 
turned Elinor, and I shall be very glad to have my 
sister-in-law’s opinion; for though, as I said before, we 
l^now little about horses, Mrs. Lyall Gresham is rather 
fond of driving. By the bye, has the mare a nice name ? ” 

'' Well, they call her Meg — short for Meg Merrilies.” 
Then, after settling the time of train, Mr. Keith looked 
at his watch and observed that he must be off. 

“ I shall not let you go without a cup of tea,” returned 
Elinor in a friendly voice ; it will probably be ready 
by this time.” 

Hammond Keith hesitated, he was evidently tempted. 
But at that moment there were sounds of carriage wheels 
on the drive, and the next moment the brown glossy 
coats of a pair of horses were distinctly visible. 

'' Some kind neighbour has come to call on us,” 
observed Elinor. I wonder who it can be ? ” She spoke 
with pleased interest. 

It is the ladies from Tylcote Hall,” returned Mr. 
Keith. His manner had quite changed; he looked per- 
turbed and embarrassed. If you will excuse me. Miss 
Gresham,” he said hurriedly, '' I should prefer to get on. 
Patience Deans will give me a cup of tea while they 
saddle Betty ” ; and there was something in his manner 
that prevented Elinor from renewing her invitation. 
Evidently he had no wish to encounter the Hall party, 
and showed his good taste by declining to obtrude 
himself. 

They parted at the porch door; but as Hammond 
Keith raised his hat, Elinor noticed that he gave a 
keen, quick glance at the open drawing-room window, 
and that a scarcely perceptible smile came to his lips 
as he turned away. 


XVI 


Agnes 


We love characters in proportion as they are impulsive and 
spontaneous. — Emerson. 


Our anger and impatience often prove much more mischievous 
than the things about which we are angry and impatient. — 
Marcus Aurelius. 

Mrs. Warburton had seated herself on the couch, 
and was talking to Bride; she rose and shook hands 
with Elinor in quite a friendly manner. 

I am so disappointed to hear that I am not to have 
the pleasure of seeing the owner of the huswife,’' she 
said with a charming smile ; ‘‘ Mrs. Gresham tells me 
that she is your sister.” 

Yes, my sister Frances. But I am sorry to say she 
no longer lives with us; she has a Nursing Home in 
Maida Vale.” And then she crossed the room to speak 
to the other visitor. 

Miss Warburton was sitting by the open window. 
She looked a little flushed. Elinor, who had felt singu- 
larly drawn to her from the first, was struck afresh by 
the sweetness and softness of her manner; there was an 
indefinable charm about her that was far more attractive 
than mere beauty. Elinor asked at once after her 
little dog. 

‘‘ How kind of you to remember her,” she replied 
gratefully. ‘‘ Fairy is quite well, and so good and happy. 
She is my inseparable little companion.” 

''Agnes is devoted to animals,” observed her mother; 
" we are very different in that respect. My son and I 
think alike on that subject. We like horses, but neither 
of us can tolerate dogs and cats, and Fairy has to mind 
her manners in the drawing-room.” 

" I think Gale is more tolerant of Fairy now, mother,” 

128 


Agnes 


129 


returned Miss Warburton gently ; she seems quite 
willing to be friendly with him/’ 

Nevertheless, I advise Fairy for her own sake to 
keep her distance, and not presume on his good-nature,” 
observed Mrs. Warburton rather meaningly. I don’t 
suppose you have forgotten poor Jock?” 

'‘Was that another dog?” asked Bride, as she placed 
herself at the tea-table. Elinor was a little sorry she 
had asked the question, for she noticed that Miss War- 
burton coloured deeply and remained silent. 

“ Oh, Jock was Agnes’s first love,” returned Mrs. 
Warburton with careless good-humour. “ He was a 
handsome little animal and rather amusing, but he had 
a temper. One day he forgot himself and bit my son’s 
hand.” 

“ Gale provoked him, mother,” observed her daughter 
in a low voice. 

“ There was nothing to induce him to fly at your 
brother in such a savage manner,” returned Mrs. War- 
burton in a quick, decided voice. “ You see. Miss 
Gresham, that my daughter is a little weak where her 
pets are concerned. I remember I took my son’s part, 
and I thought he was quite justified in sending Jock 
away.” 

“ Oh dear, how sad,” observed Bride in a feeling voice, 
as she watched her own little Scrap sitting up with 
tiny waving black paws in piteous appeal for sponge- 
cake — in spite of all her mistress’s careful training. 
Scrap was a shameless beggar. But it was the silent 
sympathy in Elinor’s eyes which overcame Miss Warbur- 
ton’s reserve. 

“ Jock behaved very badly,” she said quietly, as Elinor 
brought her the cake-basket ; “ but he was such a dear 
faithful little fellow, and we were so fond of each other. 
But I see him sometimes.” 

“ Oh, I am so glad of that.” 

“ Yes. I asked Mr. Keith to take him,” went on Miss 
Warburton, as she held out a piece of the coveted dainty 
to Scrap. As she did so Elinor noticed the beauty of the 
long lashes that veiled her eyes, and the fine delicate 
marking of her eyebrows. “ He is very happy at Crow 
9 


130 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Farm, and he and Dan, Mr. Keith's dog, get on very 
well together ; but I often miss him." 

'' I should like you to see Rufus," returned Elinor. 

I expect he is with Joe Twitchett at the present moment. 
Joe is our out-door factotum, and Rufus has taken a 
great fancy to him." 

I wonder if you would take me to see the ruins 
of the old Croft Church," asked Miss Warburton with 
sudden animation. Though I have lived here all my 
life, I never remember seeing them. I told mother that 
I would ask you ; but she will have it that there is nothing 
to see." 

Well, there is not much. It is just at the end of that 
little lime walk. After tea, if Mrs. Warburton will 
excuse me, I will gladly show you the old ruin." 

Mrs. Warburton, who seemed somewhat engrossed 
with Bride's conversation, graciously signified her con- 
sent. She was given to take sudden likes and dislikes, 
and she thought Mrs. Lyall Gresham a very pleasing 
and graceful person. When Bride was happy and at her 
ease, she generally attracted people. Mrs. Warburton, 
who was a little inquisitive on the subject of her new 
neighbours, but who was too well-bred to manifest her 
curiosity openly, soon found it easy to elicit information. 
Bride was always perfectly frank about herself and other 
people; directly she discovered Mrs. Warburton was 
interested in Frances, she told her all about St. Monica's 
Lodge. 

Frances is a dear creature, and she does so love her 
work," she continued enthusiastically. 

Miss Gresham struck me as a very superior person, 
and quite out of the common," returned Mrs. Warburton 
warmly. I am very quick in forming my opinion of 
people, and rarely change my mind. My son often 
lectures me on the subject; he is far more deliberate 
in his judgments. So you have another sister living at 
the Boltons ? " 

''Another sister-in-law, you mean? Yes, the eldest of 
the family. Augusta is quite a society person, and as 
she is handsome as well as clever,' people generally 
admire her. Elinor and I are quieter in our tastes, and 


Agnes 


131 


that is why we have come to live in the country. Per- 
haps you know already that this house belongs to my 
husband ? "" 

Oh, yes, we know that, and he has let the farm to 
Hammond Keith.” Certainly young Mrs. Gresham was 
a satisfactory person. Mrs. Warburton, who was a 
clever woman, and could add two and two together with 
tolerable accuracy, felt sufficiently enlightened on the 
subject of the Gresham household. The ladies at Wild- 
croft would be quite acquisitions to their limited society, 
and though of the two she preferred Mrs. Lyall Gresham, 
she was quite ready to admit that her sister-in-law was a 
lady-like woman. Mrs. Warburton was always moderate 
in her praise. 

Meanwhile Miss Warburton was saying in her gentle 
way, What a neglected little nook ! Do you know, the 
sight of those overgrown, uncared-for graves would make 
me feel quite sad. And then it is such a strange idea — 
turning a ruined church into a graveyard.” 

Do you know I rather like it,” replied Elinor, who had 
few morbid fancies ; and Bride and I have made up 
our minds that it shall not be neglected any longer. I 
mean to talk to the Vicar, and get his sanction. When the 
grass is mown and the graves cleaned and weeded, and all 
the nettles and docks and plantains pulled up, I expect 
it will look a different place. I should like to plant some 
variegated ivy at the foot of that arch, and some creeper 
amongst the rubbish; then we might have crocuses and 
daffodils and snowdrops planted in the grass, and a little 
rustic arch over this gate with a crimson rambler. I 
wanted to talk it over with Mr. Keith just now, but he 
was in such a hurry.” 

Oh yes, I thought I saw Mr. Keith pass the window,” 
remarked Miss Warburton. She was trying to fasten 
her glove as she spoke. 

Let me do that for you,” returned Elinor, taking 
the slender grey wrist into her hand ; '' those patent 
fasteners are apt to be troublesome. Yes, we have seen 
a good deal of Mr. Keith this last week. We like him so 
much; he has been so kind and helpful. He thinks he 
has found a nice cart and mare for us, and we are going 


132 


No Friend Like a Sister 


with him to Leicester the day after to-morrow to look 
at them. They belong to Mr. Sedgwick at Parkhurst.’’ 

'' Oh, we know the Sedgwicks,'' returned Miss War- 
burton. We were lunching at Parkhurst on Monday, 
and Mr. Sedgwick drove us to the station. I was ad- 
miring the mare, and he told me how sorry he was to 
part with her.’’ 

Yes, and Mr. Keith thinks the terms so reasonable. 
Do you know. Miss Warburton, though I have barely 
seen him half-a-dozen times, I already feel such a confi- 
dence in Mr. Keith’s judgment and good sense. He 
seems to me, too, so exceedingly intelligent, quite well 
educated for his station, for he is only a working farmer. 
We passed Crow Farm the other day, and it seems quite 
a small place.” 

“ The house is not much, certainly,” replied Miss 
Warburton, but Mrs. Keith has lived there all her 
married life, and nothing would induce her to leave. 
Some one has told me that Mr. Keith has had a little 
money left him from an old cousin, and that he is 
thinking of buying a pretty old house in Red Thorn Lane. 
He thinks it will be a good investment, but I doubt if he 
will ever get his mother to move there, though it is not 
a quarter of a mile away. Have you seen Mrs. Keith 
yet. Miss Gresham ? ” 

No, but we are going over to Crow Farm to-morrow 
afternoon. Is she like her son ? ” 

'' No, there is not much likeness between them, though 
she has his eyes and smile. She is rather homely in 
face and manner, but she is thoroughly good and kind- 
hearted, and she and her son are devoted to each other. 
She was a Westmoreland woman, and all her young life 
was spent at a little moorland farm near Mallerstang, 
and I do not fancy she has had many advantages. Mr. 
Keith reads a great deal, and my brother often lends 
him books. Oh, there comes the carriage, and we must 
go back to the house.” Agnes Warburton spoke in rather 
a regretful voice; she was evidently interested in their 
conversation. 

''Agnes,” observed Mrs. Warburton in an animated 
manner, as they drove out of the gate, " I have quite 


Agnes 


133 


taken a fancy to young Mrs. Gresham ; she seems to me 
rather out of the common, and her conversation is delight- 
ful — so fresh and natural.’’ 

Do you think her handsome, mother ? ” 

‘‘ No, one could hardly say that ; but she is rather 
striking looking, and in an unusual way. Her hair is 
beautiful, and she has a fine head. She is very naive 
and taking, and told me about herself quite simply. We 
knew her husband was a clergyman, and that he was 
doing mission work at the Cape ; but I never could under- 
stand why his wife was not with him. I thought she had 
bad health.” 

Did she tell you the reason ? ” 

Well, not exactly, not in actual words — one would 
not expect that on the first call — but I gathered something 
from a sentence dropped here and there. I fancy she had 
a distaste for the life. Of course it is a little odd, but 
they seem good friends, for she heard from him this 
morning.” 

It seems to me more than odd, mother,” observed 
Agnes gravely, if Mrs. Gresham refuses to share her 
husband’s work.” But this remark did not seem to 
please Mrs. Warburton. 

For goodness’ sake, Aggie, spare me your high- 
flown and romantic notions,” she said impatiently. “As 
you live in a little world of your own, and never move 
out of your narrow groove, you are not likely to under- 
stand a person like Mrs. Gresham. Miss Elinor Gresham 
is more your sort.” 

“ I daresay you are right, mother,” returned Agnes 
humbly ; but she looked a little pained, for she recognised 
the slight disparagement in her mother’s voice. 

“ She is of a more ordinary type,” went on Mrs. 
Warburton ; “ she is a nice person, even-tempered and 
placid, but I should imagine not particularly clever ; but 
Airs. Gresham seems greatly attached to her. By the 
bye, Aggie, you must be careful not to drop any of what 
I have just said to Gale, or there would be an end of 
any friendly intimacy. He has a perfect craze on the 
subject of matrimony. I tell him sometimes that British 
wives are not slaves. Really, to judge from his talk 


134 


No Friend Like a Sister 


sometimes, one would think that a wife must not hold a 
different opinion from her husband/’ 

'' I am not likely to say anything to Gale, mother ” — 
and there was a touch of sadness in Agnes’s voice. 

Oh, you often blurt out something at the wrong 
moment,” remarked her mother drily ; tact was never 
your strong point. No, you may leave the description 
of Mrs. Gresham to me. Did you hear me invite them 
to luncheon next Tuesday? If it is fine they will walk 
over and we will drive them back.” 

No, I did not hear you — Scrap was barking so. But, 
mother, what a pity you fixed on Tuesday. I told you 
only this morning that I had promised to go with Mrs. 
Keith to Leicester to buy her black silk dress. We have 
planned it ever so long, and she is so looking forward 
to the treat, and she has so few outings. May I write 
to Miss Gresham and ask them to come another day?” 

Certainly not,” returned Mrs. Warburton curtly. 

You are extremely cool, to say the least of it, Agnes. 
If any one has to be put off, it had better be Mrs. 
Keith. The good woman can surely appoint some other 
afternoon.” 

'' I do not think it will be quite fair to ask her to do 
that,” returned Agnes. She spoke in a worried tone, for 
she knew that her mother would have her way in the 
end. She has no other disengaged afternoon next 
week, and Mr. Keith was so anxious for her to have 
the dress for her birthday, and I promised faithfully that 
I would not disappoint her. I am afraid, under the 
circumstances, I really ought to go.” 

What, and leave me to entertain our guests alone ? ” 
and Mrs. Warburton looked exceedingly displeased. '' I 
must say you are showing a great want of consideration, 
Agnes. I wonder what Gale would think of such a 
proposal.” 

‘‘ But, mother, surely Wednesday or Thursday would 
suit Mrs. Gresham and her sister-in-law equally well.” 
Poor Agnes, she was certainly a little dense and deficient 
in tact and diplomacy, or she would have known that her 
persistence only made her mother more determined on 
carrying her point. 


Agnes 


135 


Mrs. Warburton had her good qualities, and she could 
be very charming when she chose, and in her son’s eyes 
she was perfect; but her temper was by no means 
faultless, as her daughter knew, and she had a hard, 
despotic nature which was often shown in petty ways. 
She was perfectly aware that any other day would be 
quite as suitable for the purpose as Tuesday. Neverthe- 
less, she swept aside her daughter’s pleasure and con- 
venience in the most ruthless way. 

I tell you what, Agnes,” she said angrily, you are 
perfectly infatuated about those friends of yours, for you 
half live at Crow Farm. I can’t think what you can find 
to interest you in a homely body like Mrs. Keith, that 
you should make yourself so ridiculous about her. Why 
can’t the woman choose her black silk dress without my 
daughter’s help ? ” 

She has so little taste, and Mr. Keith begged me to 
do him this favour,” returned Agnes in a pleading voice. 

Tut — nonsense ; tell him you will go some other 
day, when it is more convenient to me. There you are, 
sighing and putting on your martyred look, as though 
you were an ill-used person, and at your age ! ” 

Hush, mother. Hooker will hear you ! ” for Mrs. 
Warburton had raised her voice. 

‘‘ Hooker is getting as deaf as a post,” was the sharp 
answer ; and it is you who have brought on all this 
argument. As I said before, you are always at Crow 
Farm, and I don’t half approve of it. One should be 
neighbourly with those sort of people and show them 
kindness, but there is no need to be too intimate with 
them. Perhaps that handsome architect, Mr. Milner, is 
the attraction.” Mrs. Warburton had certainly lost her 
temper, or she would not have said this. 

Mother, I think it will be better for us to end this 
conversation.” Agnes spoke with such unusual dignity 
that Mrs. Warburton was silenced for a moment. Agnes’s 
fair face was burning, and her eyes were full of repressed 
tears — she felt hurt, mortified, and strangely wounded, 
but her mother’s last galling remark had roused her to 
assert herself. 

“ You have no right to say or even think such a thing 


136 


No Friend Like a Sister 


of your daughter/’ she said, as the carriage turned into 
the Hall drive ; you talked far more to Mr. Milner 
than I have, and, as a matter of fact, I have never seen 
him on my visits to Crow Farm.” And then, as the 
servant opened the carriage door, she passed quickly 
into the house. Mrs. Warburton looked after her a little 
curiously. 

‘‘Agnes is in her tantrums and no mistake,” she said 
to herself, as she stepped daintily out. Perhaps she was 
a little ashamed of herself, for she certainly treated her 
daughter with more consideration during the remainder 
of the day. 


XVII 


The Vicar of Tylcote 


The man may teach by Doing, and not otherwise. If he can 
communicate himself, he can teach, but not by words. He 
teaches who gives, and he learns who receives. — Emerson. 

Add not more trouble to a heart that is vexed. — Ecclesias- 
TICUS. 

Agnes Warburton was one of those gentle, yielding 
natures that find it easy to forgive injuries; she was 
seldom moved to assert herself, but the injustice and 
utter bad taste of her mother’s words had stung her 
horribly for the moment. It was past endurance that 
such a thing should be said; and her indignant remon- 
strance had an unwonted effect, for it reduced Mrs. 
Warburton to silence. She felt that she had gone too 
far, and, though she was too proud to apologise, her 
manner was more conciliatory to her daughter. Agnes 
did not refuse the olive branch held out to her — indeed, 
she accepted it with her usual meekness — but she was 
so depressed and unlike herself that, more than once, 
Mrs. Warburton thought seriously of putting off the 
Greshams to another day ; but unhappily she repented of 
this good resolution. 

‘‘Agnes was absurd,” she said to herself ; “ of course 
any other day would do for Mrs. Keith. She would not 
trouble her head about it any more. Perhaps it was a mis- 
take making that allusion to Mr. Milner, but when one is 
vexed one never measures one’s words ; and of course she 
had not really meant it — ^Agnes had far too much self- 
respect and dignity to condescend to a flirtation,” 

Mrs. Warburton was not without affection for her 
daughter, but she did not in the least understand her — 
their natures were too dissimilar; the clever, keenly 
intellectual woman felt that her only daughter was a 
social failure. 


137 


138 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Mrs. Warburton had been extremely handsome in 
her youth, and lovers had been plentiful ; she had 
married young the man of her choice, and her wedded 
life had been almost perfect; but Agnes had not fol- 
lowed her mother’s example. She was in her thirtieth 
year, but she was still Agnes Warburton, and, as far 
as her mother knew, no one had ever paid her marked 
attention. 

Many of her friends failed to understand this. They 
said openly, and to themselves, that Agnes was far too 
attractive and charming to waste her sweetness in un- 
appreciated loneliness, that no one was more fitted to 
be a wife and mother, and undoubtedly they were right ; 
but Mrs. Warburton always asserted that it was Agnes’s 
own fault that she had not married. 

People would admire her more if she did not entrench 
herself in a sort of palisade of shyness and stiffness,” she 
said once. When young men are introduced to her 
she always gives one the impression of trying to peep 
at them between the palings. There is no getting at her. 
Of course, it is shyness ; but at her age it is so absurd. 
Why, there was Reginald Hooper. It was always my 
opinion. Gale ” — for these remarks were made to her 
son — that Reginald was really struck with our Agnes. 
I am sure the parents noticed it; but she was so stiff 
and quiet that he gave it up at last and married that 
lively little Gertrude Dale; and Agnes might have been 
mistress of that fine old manor-house. What are you 
saying. Gale ? ” for the vicar was softly repeating to him- 
self a few lines of Hindustani. 

‘‘ It is from the Quatrains of Hali, mother. Shall I 
translate it for your benefit? 

‘ Is love a physician for the unhealthy at heart ? 

Or is it in itself the home of thousands of woes ? 

Of that I know nothing ; only this much have I heard, 

For those without work it is a charming pastime.^ ’’ 

Oh, if you begin quoting Hali,” returned his mother^ 
shaking her head and looking at him with pretended 
severity; but she knew him well enough to change the 
subject. If there was little sympathy between the mother 


The Vicar of Tylcote 139 

and daughter, there was still less between the brother 
and sister. 

The vicar of Tylcote was a self-centred man, and 
very much engrossed in his own pursuits. His clerical 
duties sat lightly on him, and were principally limited 
to the Sunday services. He took pains with his sermons, 
though it may be doubted if any one had ever been 
deeply impressed by them, or had been turned from the 
error of his ways, moved and wounded by some javelin 
of priestly eloquence. Sunday after Sunday the little 
flock gathered in Tylcote Church, listened with cold 
respect and reverence to their vicar's carefully-delivered 
discourse, and, after browsing on the scanty pasturage 
provided for their nourishment, went home with perhaps 
the text still lingering in their memory. 

“ That was a grand text that the vicar gave out this 
morning," observed Caleb Strong, the little deformed 
bootmaker ; I can't call to mind that I ever heard these 
words before — ‘ Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the 
Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because 
they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the 
Lord against the mighty.' My word, Liz, how he rolled 
out the words — it was like the swell of the organ or a 
poem; but the queer part is, I haven't a notion what he 
meant by it." 

‘‘ Nor I," returned Liz, but she spoke indifferently. 
It is no new thing for her not to listen to the vicar's 
sermon. How was a poor, harassed, tired-out woman, 
with sick babies at home, and conscious of an increasing 
doctor's bill, to find comfort in the vicar's beautifully 
worded discourse ? ‘ Curse ye Meroz,' " she muttered 
drearily, “ how is a poor woman to understand the likes 
of that ? " And it fretted Liz sorely, as she rocked Sal 
to sleep in her thin arms, that Caleb should spend his 
Sunday evening hunting vainly through his mother's old 
brown Bible for the text that had so fired his imagination. 

“ It fairly beats me," he said at last, wiping his fore- 
head ; I have been all through Jeremiah and Ezekiel and 
all them short prophets, and I have not lighted on it yet." 
And it was Agnes Warburton who at last satisfied Caleb's 
restless curiosity, who read to him in her sweet voice the 


140 


No Friend Like a Sister 


glorious song of Deborah and Barak, and who described 
to him that little hidden valley whose inhabitants had not 
gone to the help of the Lord in the hour of their 
brethren’s need. When Agnes had left the little shop, 
Caleb put down the boot he was patching and read it over 
again to himself. 

Rev. Gale Warburton never visited his people; he had 
so little to say to them that it was embarrassing on both 
sides ; he was not sufficiently in touch with them to make 
such visits either pleasant or profitable. He could de- 
cipher hieroglyphics and even converse in Hindustani, but 
the hearts of his parishioners were as a sealed book to 
him. When they came up to the Hall and asked for 
help, he was never known to refuse it; and when they 
sent for him, he would leave his beloved studies to go to 
the sick and dying ; but it may be doubted whether those 
few beautifully read prayers yielded much comfort. 

The vicar is a gradley sort of chap, but he don’t 
heve much to say to a mon,” observed old Richard 
Fawcett, a north country shepherd who had migrated to 
Tylcote. Richard was nearing the end of his pilgrimage, 
and he was speaking to his best friend Anna Keith, who 
was ministering to him as she ministered to all the ailing 
bodies and minds in the neighbourhood of Crow Farm. 

He is turribly fine and learned, nae doubt, but the 
words seem more stone than grit, and fairly chokes me.” 
And though Mrs. Keith made no special response, she 
smiled acquiescence, and repeated the words to her son. 
It was well that old Richard had so kind and faithful a 
watcher beside his dying bed, for he had had a hard life. 
Mrs. Keith was holding the cold, shrivelled hand in hers 
as she said a few simple prayers, and the bleared old 
eyes had lighted up with sudden tenderness. I would 
never have thought that He would have sent you to fetch 
me, Jean,” he gasped ; and there and then with glad 
wonder he climbed his way where 

Up the fair hillside, like a sweet surprise, 

Waiteth the quiet Fold. 

Gale Warburton was fully aware that he had mis- 
taken his vocation, and more than once he had expressed 


The Vicar of Tylcote 


141 


his regret that he had ever left Oxford ; but his mother 
was always ready with a word of comfort. 

‘‘ You sacrificed yourself for me, Gale,^^ she said 
tenderly ; you knew how much I needed you after 
your father’s death. You have been a good son to me, 
my dear.” But though he said no more, his conscience 
told him that he ought never to have taken upon himself 
the duties of a parish priest. 

Gale Warburton’s happiest hours were spent in the 
warm, well-lighted study at the Vicarage. He worked 
there the greater part of the day, and in the late even- 
ings, when he had finished his usual game of chess or 
piquet with his mother, he would often retire there to 
burn the midnight lamp, and sometimes the grey dawn 
would find him absorbed in his beloved studies. On 
such occasions he would remain at the Vicarage for a 
brief sleep, for by his own desire a bedroom was always 
kept ready for his use; but on these nights Mrs. War- 
burton never rested well, though she carefully concealed 
this from her son’s knowledge. Gale must have his free- 
dom and independence, she would say to herself ; he must 
never know how his Bohemian ways interfered with her 
rest, how she had fallen into the habit of lying awake 
until she heard the sound of his footsteps on the gravel 
under her window. 

Mr. Warburton had formulated no special vow of 
celibacy. He was not averse to matrimony, but he was 
simply too much engrossed in his own pursuits to have 
leisure for falling in love, neither had he yet seen the 
woman whom he would care to make his wife. He had 
strange theories on this subject, and it might be doubted 
whether any woman would quite come up to his standard. 

It was in this uncongenial atmosphere that Agnes 
had spent her young life, and it could not be denied that, 
on the whole, it was a meagre, unsatisfying existence to 
a warm-hearted, loving nature. Agnes knew that she 
was not necessary to either her mother or brother, that 
they were neither of them dependent on her for comfort 
or happiness. 

Agnes Warburton was not an intellectual woman. She 
seldom opened a book unless it were a novel or poetry. 


142 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Her tastes were essentially domestic and feminine. She 
excelled in all branches of needlework, and housekeeping 
was a joy to her. 

Unfortunately, Mrs. Warburton, who was strong and 
active, and remarkably young for her age, for she was 
in her sixtieth year, preferred to keep the reins in her 
own hands. She had early Victorian ideas on such 
matters, and would not have relegated any of her 
authority in favour of her daughter though she might 
be in her thirtieth year. 

Agnes’s few household duties were soon discharged — 
the dusting of her mother’s priceless china, and the 
arrangement of the drawingroom flowers, and the feed- 
ing and cleaning of Cocky, the white cockatoo, the spoiled 
and noisy pet of the house. When these trifling duties 
were discharged, Agnes had the rest of the day at her 
own disposal. No one wanted her, or claimed her assist- 
ance; Mrs. Warburton liked to write her own letters. 
Now and then Agnes would drive or pay calls with her 
mother, or would be required to pay attention to some 
passing guest. 

Agnes would sit in her sunny window, or if it were 
warm, in some shady corner of the garden, and busy 
herself with some piece of intricate needlework, that 
would distract and occupy her, for her thoughts were 
seldom gay. Latterly, she had a new interest. Mrs. 
Keith, who was a sensible, shrewd v/oman, had suggested 
that she might take the sewing-class at the school and 
relieve Miss Sullivan, who was somewhat hard-worked. 
Agnes had acted on the suggestion, and the result had 
been highly satisfactory, and those two or three hours 
in the week had been full of interest. Agnes soon took 
pride in her pupils. She would carry specimens of 
darning and marking to Mrs. Keith — she knew her 
mother would have been simply bored. I am going 
to give prizes at Christmas,” Agnes said once, and I 
am sure Mary Masterman will get the first prize. Did 
you ever see a neater seam, Mrs. Keith ? All the stitches 
are so small and even ” — and Agnes’s voice was unusually 
animated. 

'' Mary has had a good teacher. Miss Warburton,” 


The Vicar of Tylcote 


143 


replied Mrs. Keith, smiling. The two women were close 
friends, although Mrs. Keith was only a homely body, 
and never pretended to be anything else. But it was an 
undoubted fact that Agnes Warburton’s most peaceful 
hours were spent in the big roomy kitchen at Crow Farm, 
which was half kitchen and half dining-room. 

Agnes would sit and watch Mrs. Keith as she made 
bread, or kneaded the dough for her fruit-cakes, or 
trotted backwards and forwards from dairy to larder. 
On these occasions she would wear a blue bib-apron that 
covered her dress, and a white sun-bonnet tilted over 
her plain, strongly-marked face, with its high cheek-bones 
and humorous, tender mouth. 

'' I should like to change places with her,’’ Agnes 
would say to herself ; '' she is always busy and happy, 
and she loves her work. How does it feel, I wonder, to 
be a widow, and to have the best part of one’s life gone ? ” 
she would muse. It sounds sad enough, but then there 
is always the memory. I think,” she went on, if 
Tennyson had been a woman he would never have written 
those lines, ‘ That a sorrow’s crown of sorrow is remem- 
bering happier things.’ It ought rather to be ^ a sorrow’s 
crown of gladness is remembering happier things.’ And, 
after all, she has had her life, and other women have 
not had theirs ” ; and Agnes’ soft melancholy was suffused 
with slight bitterness. 

A woman’s heart is, or should be, holy ground, though 
ofttimes fools step in where angels fear to tread. Agnes 
Warburton was now at that age when the instincts of 
her womanhood demanded most urgently recognition and 
sympathy. The repression of her home affections only 
made her hunger more keenly for tenderness. If there 
were only one human being in God’s world who needed 
her, whose life would be the richer because she lived, who 

would reckon her affection beyond hid treasure . And 

then, when she least expected it, and where she would 
never have looked for it, came the answer. And when 
Agnes Warburton looked into the face of the messenger, 
her spirit well-nigh fainted within her; for she knew 
that the sorest temptation of he^ life had come to her — to 
be met and vanquished. 


XVIII 

Crow Farm 

Sooner or later a man will shine for all he is worth. — Tal- 

MAGE. 

It is the heart that makes the home, whether the eye rests 
upon a potato-patch or a flower-garden. Heart makes home 
precious, and it is the only thing that can. — Harden. 

It was a lovely afternoon when Elinor and Bride 
cycled over to Crow Farm. Rufus, who had been spe- 
cially invited, bounded beside them. A proud and happy 
dog was Rufus in these days, for morning, noon, and 
night he was never far from his beloved mistress. As 
long as the spring daylight lasted she was always in his 
sight, and at night his tawny length was stretched across 
the door of her bedroom, and the slightest movement 
within would rouse him from the soundest sleep. The 
thick bearskin rug was a delicious bed to Rufus. 

Bride had verified Elinor's prediction, and she and 
Scrap had taken possession of the two quaint rooms 
opening into each other. Bride's originality and good 
taste had transformed them into a charming, well- 
appointed bedroom and quite a dainty little boudoir and 
workshop. 

Elinor told Frances that she was quite touched by 
Bride's delight and happiness in her new surroundings. 
''She is never dull or idle for a moment," she wrote later 
on. "The day is not half long enough for all we have 
to do. Gardening is our chief hobby; we are reading 
up all sorts of books to help us — Miss Jekyll's Home 
and Garden and Wood and Garden, and Mrs. Earle's 
Pot-Ponrri. And we take in all kinds of gardening 
magazines ; our little morning-room is quite strewn with 
them. I think Joe Twitchett is amazed at our energy. 
One day he almost took the spade out of Bride’s hand. 
'It is not for the likes of you, ma’am, to be digging up 


Crow Farm 


145 


an awkward bit of ground like that/ he said quite indig- 
nantly; and poor Bride, who was as red as a turkey- 
cock, owned afterwards that her back was nearly 
broken. 

Bride filled up all her leisure hours by writing long 
letters to Lyall. Certainly, as far as correspondence 
was concerned. Bride was an ideal wife. She would 
cover sheets with charming descriptions of the neighbour- 
hood and her walks and drives, and tell him all about 
the friends she had met and the books she had read. 

“Poor dear child,’’ thought Lyall as he thrust the 
letter into his waistcoat pocket, where it lay near his 
heart for many a day, “ she tells me everything except the 
one thing I want to know. Does she guess how willingly 
I would sacrifice all those prettily worded pages, just for 
one line written from her heart: ‘Lyall, I want you — 
come home as soon as you can.’ ” But Bride was far too 
shy to make any such overture ; besides, she was not sure 
that she really did want him back. She and Elinor were 
so happy together, and really Lyall made her so uncom- 
fortable — ^wanting her to do such impossible things ! 

Now and then Bride’s conscience gave her an uneasy 
prick. On Sundays especially, she would wear a thought- 
ful look as they walked across the quiet meadows on their 
return from evening service. 

“ I was thinking of that poor boy Lyall,” she said one 
evening in answer to Elinor’s question. “ I am afraid I 
must be wicked to be so contented and happy, when he 
must be so lonely in that outlandish place. What do you 
think, Nora?” and there was a wistful look in Bride’s 
dark eyes. 

“ Why do you put such an uncomfortable question, 
dear ?” returned Elinor half-smiling. “ I am quite sure 
that you don’t mean to be wicked, and I am equally sure 
that, being mortal man, poor Lyall must be both home- 
sick and wife-sick, and I do not see that we can expect 
him to be otherwise.” 

“ But, Nora, I offered to go out and be with him ” 

Bride’s lip trembled — she was bent on defending herself. 
A missel-thrush who was calling to his mate in rather 
a creaking tone of authority, cocked his bright eye at 

lO 


146 


No Friend Like a Sister 


her with a malicious wink. ^‘There are wives who are 
sweethearts, and sweethearts who are wives, but an 
unmated mate is a scarecrow for all creation to pity,’' he 
seemed to say, with a flirt of his pert tail that settled the 
question. 

Bride shut herself up in her room and had a good cry 
that evening ; but she said nothing more to Elinor about 
Lyall. Perhaps the nesting birds had taught her some- 
thing, after all. Why did Lyall love her so dearly that 
every letter of his seemed to convey to her a fresh mes- 
sage of forgiveness? Since those first few stormy inter- 
views, he had never reproached her for her desertion of 
him ; only when she had made that tardy proposition to 
go out to him, he had not been able to keep back all the 
deep-lying bitterness. "'Unless you can tell me that our 
separation really makes you unhappy,” he wrote, "" I think 
it would be better to let things remain as they are at 
present.” And Bride, who was too truthful to prevari- 
cate, had let this pass unanswered. 

Bride was in a sunshiny mood that afternoon as they 
rode swiftly along the roads, only commenting now and 
then to each other on the soft, vivid green of the budding 
hedgerows. In a few weeks the fresh loveliness of the 
spring foliage would be dimmed by summer dust; the 
very hedgerows they were admiring would be powdered 
with grey particles and disfigured by shreds of straw 
and fragments of hay, as the loaded carts rumbled by. 

Crow Farm was in a lane leading out of the main 
street of the village ; it was a modest, unpretentious 
place. Through the gate one passed into a large flagged 
courtyard; to the left were the farm buildings, and 
to the right was a comfortable-looking grey dwelling- 
house. 

As they propped their bicycles against the wall, a tall 
and rather portly woman in a blue bib-apron, carefully 
pinned over her black dress, came out to meet them. A 
white sun-bonnet covered her flaxen hair, now thickly 
threaded with grey ; the plain, homely features wore a 
pleasant expression. 

. ""You are very welcome. Miss Gresham,” she said, 
giving Elinor almost a masculine grip of the hand, "" and 


Crow Farm 


147 


I am delighted to see you and your sister. Come into the 
house, for the afternoon sun is always so strong in the 
courtyard. Or perhaps you might like to take a turn in 
our little garden, while Emma sets the tea-things ? ’’ Mrs. 
Keith spoke a little broadly, like a northerner ; but in 
spite of a certain ruggedness in her speech, there was 
something pleasing in her voice. She had kindly blue 
eyes that at times looked a little sad, but the full, sensitive 
lips were very ready to smile. 

‘'Oh, do let us go to the garden,” observed ‘ Bride 
eagerly, before Elinor could answer ; but as they stepped 
out on the little lawn a girl’s face appeared at a back 
window, and the next moment Kathleen came running 
out to greet her friends. 

“ I have been out into the road half-a-dozen times to 
see if you were coming,” she exclaimed ; “ but as Mrs. 
Keith says, ‘A watched kettle is slow to boil,’ so I shut 
myself up in the parlour and gave myself a task, and in 
five minutes you came.” 

“Aye, Miss Kathleen my dear, patience is a fine thing, 
and always pays best in the long run. Now, may I ask 
you to entertain these young ladies for a while, while I 
get the cakes out of the oven and see to the buttering 
of the scones? Emma is a good girl, but is a bit 
heavy-minded, and an old-fashioned body like myself 
would sooner do her own business.” 

“Won’t you let me help?” asked Kathleen coaxingly; 
“ I do so love going to the dairy and skimming the 
cream.” But Mrs. Keith shook her head. 

“ No, bide quiet, my dear ; I have no need of helpers 
to-day.” And then Kathleen pretended to pout as she 
seated herself beside Elinor on the little iron seat on the 
lawn, where they could look across the meadows, and 
enjoy the sight of a bed of yellow daffodils waving their 
golden heads in the bright spring sunshine. 

It was a small garden, but pretty in its way. To the 
right was a long, narrow kitchen garden, with a row of 
beehives at the bottom of the path. A little later on the 
borders would be gay with wall-flowers, Canterbury bells, 
London pride, and early red rhododendrons and German 
irises ; while Guelder roses, lilacs, and laburnums would 


148 


No Friend Like a Sister 


make a mass of soft, lovely colouring, and under the 
trees the pale blue hyacinth would nod its delicate head. 
Mrs. Keith’s flower borders were the pride of her heart, 
and to go out and gather homely posies of fragrant old- 
fashioned flowers for her guests was endless joy to her; 
and she seldom gave one to a young girl or unmarried 
woman without adding a sprig or two of strongly-smell- 
ing southernwood — “ lad’s love ” as she called it — for 
dear luck’s sake. Agnes Warburton always had a double 
portion of the lucky plant in her bouquet, but she never 
let her friends know her dislike to the scent. 

‘‘ You must peep in at Hugh’s room,” observed Kath- 
leen presently. ‘'You know that Mrs. Keith has given him 
the use of her own parlour. It is such a pretty, cosy little 
room, and there is some lovely old Chelsea china, and an 
oak chest that she brought from the farmhouse at Maller- 
stang where she was born.” And though Elinor seemed 
afraid of intruding, she yielded at last to Kathleen’s per- 
suasions, and they followed her into the house. 

It was certainly a charming room, and Bride was in 
ecstasies with it — the quaint old black-framed pictures, 
the beautiful oak chest, and the mantelpiece filled with 
gay little china groups — shepherds and shepherdesses 
with garlands and crooks and waving ribbons, or with a 
meek-faced lamb tucked under one arm. Then there was 
a low wooden seat covered with red and green chintz — a 
delightful place to rest on a summer’s afternoon, and 
watch white butterflies and big brown bees moving over 
the flower-beds. 

The little square table was strewn with plans and 
unfinished drawings, and a deal kitchen-table blocked 
up the second window; it was here that Hugh Milner 
worked. 

“ Oh, I have never given you Hugh’s message !” ex- 
claimed Kathleen as she unrolled a finished sketch that 
her brother had just completed. “ He was so disappointed 
when he heard you were coming this afternoon ; he has 
been obliged to go over to Mexfield; Mr. Morrell wants 
to see him on business — I fancy some other clergyman 
wishes to meet him — and he is afraid that he will not get 
back in time to see you.” 


Crow Farm 


149 


Elinor expressed polite regret. In reality she was 
somewhat disappointed, for she found her respect and 
liking for Hugh Milner increased each time they met. 
Bride had taken to him from the first; his handsome 
face and pleasant manners attracted her. Her enthusiasm 
had amused Elinor, and she made a disparaging remark 
on purpose. 

'' Gussie would say that we ought not to encourage 
his visits ; his father is an organist, you know, and gives 
music-lessons.’’ But this sort of speech always put Bride’s 
back up ; she was rather democratic in her views. 

Why don’t you finish your sentence properly,” she 
returned scornfully, '' and tell me that Mr. Milner is only 
an architect and rather poor? I should not deny the 
fact ; but all the same there are architects and architects, 
and I am convinced Hugh Milner is a gentleman ” ; and 
for some esoteric reason, this speech had pleased Elinor, 
she too had made up her mind on this subject. ‘‘ One 
can always recognise a gentleman,” she had once said to 
Frances, who was alluding to quite a different person; 
but, strange to say, her thoughts had reverted to Hugh 
Milner. 

At this moment Mrs. Keith summoned them to tea. 
Her son had just come in, she said, and was putting 
himself tidy for the ladies. And then she led the way 
into the great cheerful living-room, with its oak presses 
and Grandfather-clock, and its wide chimney-corner with 
a comfortable leather-backed chair on each side of the 
fireplace. A bright little wood fire burnt in the grate, 
and from the tall mantelpiece almost to the ceiling were 
suspended rows of shining tins and brass and copper 
utensils — candlesticks gleaming like silver, huge copper 
warming-pans reflecting ruddy lights, covers that could 
mirror the human faces below in their speckless bright- 
ness. Next to her flower borders and her dairy, Mrs. 
Keith prided herself on what her son always called her 
tin gallery. 

Mrs. Keith had divested herself of her sun-bonnet and 
bib-apron, and her thick wavy hair was uncovered by 
any cap; the heavy gold chain and handsome cameo 
brooch that she wore had been her husband’s gifts. She 


150 


No Friend Like a Sister 


gave a satisfied glance at her well-spread table, as she 
invited her guests to seat themselves. Elinor secretly 
wondered if all farmhouse teas were as substantial. 
There were home-made bread and a currant loaf, hot 
buttered scones, jams, preserves, and clotted cream, and 
even a folded napkin wherein reposed new-laid eggs. 

‘‘ Come away, Hammond,’’ observed his mother ; “ we 
are waiting for you to serve the ladies.” And then 
Hammond Keith entered, looking as fresh and ruddy 
as a young David, and greeted them in an unaflfected, 
cordial manner. 

The young farmer certainly appeared to his best 
advantage in his owfi house, and he and Kathleen 
appeared to be on excellent terms. 

'' Miss Kathleen leaves us to-morrow,” he said, ad- 
dressing Elinor, and I don’t know which of us will miss 
her most.” 

‘‘And I do so hate going,” returned Kathleen, and her 
bright face clouded as she spoke. “ I shall miss Hugh 
so horribly — I always do; but Cousin Ada cannot stay 
any longer, and I must go back to father. But just 
fancy Acacia Road after this dear place !” 

“Acacia Road, that is in St. John’s Wood, is it not?” 
asked Elinor, “ and not far from Primrose Hill ?” 

“ Yes, but it is so dull,” replied Kathleen. “ We have 
a little garden in the back and front, about the size of 
a pocket-handkerchief. There is a laburnum over the 
front gate and a big lilac bush by the front door, and 
in the back garden we have a syringa and a Guelder 
rose, and a little bed of pansies, — they are father’s favour- 
ite flowers.” 

“ You should have a rose bush or two and a border 
of pinks,” observed Mrs. Keith ; “ we could give you 
some of our cuttings. There’s a deal can be made of a 
small garden, with a little thought and pains. Pansies 
are pretty enough, but I like something sweet-smelling. 
But I am thinking. Miss Kathleen my dear, that it is a 
bit contrary that your brother should be away on your 
last evening !” 

“ He is sorry, too, Mrs. Keith, but it could not be 
avoided; and he won’t stay longer than he can help.” 


Crow Farm 


151 


And then the talk drifted to other subjects. Elinor, who 
knew that her hostess was a Westmoreland woman, began 
telling her of a pleasant summer holiday that she and 
her sisters had enjoyed at the English Lakes. We 
stayed one night at Shap Wells, on our way from Hawes 
Water,'' she continued, and we passed through Brough. 
That was not so very far from your old home, Mrs. 
Keith." 

If you start mother on old days, there will be no 
holding her in," observed Hammond, smiling ; she 
thinks there is no place to beat the dales, and she is proud 
of being a Mallerstang woman." And then, a little slyly, 
'' Did you ever hear of ' trashing ' and ‘ riding for the 
riband,' Miss Gresham ?" 

Now, Ham my dear, as though the ladies would care 
to hear of those queer old customs !" returned his mother 
chidingly ; but her large humorous mouth began to work 
in a pleased way. It was easy to set her going : the very 
word Mallerstang " seemed like magic. 

I assure you, Mrs. Keith, that we should love to hear 
about them. We heard some funny stories at Shap that 
amused us hugely." 

Did you, my dear?" replied Mrs. Keith, but she was 
looking at Bride. But to her surprise young Mrs. 
Gresham blushed deeply and looked embarrassed, and 
it was Elinor who answered. 

My sister-in-law was not with us, Mrs. Keith ; she 
was otherwise engaged. The fact is, she was only just 
married, and she and my brother were at Clovelly." 

‘^Aye, that is in the West Country. But you are want- 
ing me to tell you about ^ trashing ' ? It was nought but 
an old Yorkshire custom of pelting a newly-married 
couple on their way from church with old shoes and sods 
or such-like rubbish. They did it to an uncle of mine. 
They do say that the meaning of the custom was to 
remind the young folk that they would find in their 
new estate ‘ clogs and hindrances.' " 

What an unpleasant experience for the newly-mar- 
ried couple," observed Elinor, for Bride still remained 
silent. Perhaps she felt that she too had met her clogs 
and hindrances " in her married life. 


152 


No Friend Like a Sister 


‘‘ I have heard of worse things than that, Miss 
Gresham ; for my grandmother told me once — she was a 
douce old body, and told famous stories when she was 
in the mood for them — ^that in some countries the bride 
is covered by the matrons with a garland of prickles, 
and so delivered unto her husband, that he might know 
that he had tied himself to a thorny pleasure/^ Then 
they all laughed except Bride. The hot flush was still 
on her face; it was as though she felt that an invisible 
garland of prickles had rested on her prettily-shaped head 
instead of the bridal wreath that day when she and Lyall 
had plighted their troth. ^ 




XIX 


“ The Chimney-Coener ” 


But methinks 

He knows the scene, who knows the one fair day, 

One only and no more, which year by year 
In spring-time comes, when lingering winter dies. 

Lewis Morris. 

Nature never did betray 
The heart that loved her. 

Wordsworth. 

Elinor was aware of the direction in which Bride's 
thoughts were turning, and to create a diversion she 
asked Mrs. Keith to tell them about ‘‘ riding for the 
riband," and her hostess quickly swallowed the bait. 

Oh, that was another curious old custom in Maller- 
stang and Shap," she observed, but I never saw it 
myself. Father and mother ' rode for the riband ' on 
their wedding-day. She was on a pillion behind him, and 
she wore a grey duffle cloak with capes over her wed- 
ding-gown, and they raced from the Black Bull in Nateby. 
There was a gate leading to the crofts round Wildbore — 
that was the name of mother's old home — and two of the 
leading horses actually leaped the gate on their way to 
the house. 

‘‘ They do say that a girl at Shap was nearly scared 
out of her wits," continued Mrs. Keith, '' the morning 
she married Black Baldrick of Rafland Hall ; for her 
bridegroom tore down a steep rough path leading from 
Rafland Forest at the peril of his life and hers, and she 
was more dead than alive when he lifted her off the 
pillion. Mad Baldrick they called him. Poor lassie, she 
was a widow before the year was out, for he broke his 
neck steeplechasing." 

‘‘ Mother has a heap of old tales about burial customs," 
observed Hammond Keith. ‘‘ Tell the ladies, mother, 

153 


154 


No Friend Like a Sister 


about that old body Betty Croglin whom Dr. Drayton 
went to see when she was dying/' 

'' You might tell it yourself, lad, for you have heard 
it scores of times," returned Mrs. Keith, and I have 
talked too much already;" but a very little pressing on 
her guests' part soon drew forth the story. 

‘‘ Dr. Andrew Drayton was the doctor at Mallerstang, 
and just before I was married he was called to see an 
old woman over eighty years of age. He found her lying 
on a four-posted bedstead, the top of which was 
covered with oak boards, and in a dying state, of which 
she was perfectly conscious. After some conversation 
the old woman said, ‘ Aye, aye. I've a mikle to be thankful 
for ; he's been a good son to me, that he has, aye, a varra 
good son. It's gangen on te ten yeer sen he bout them 
booards for my coffin' (pointing to those on the top of 
the bed) ; 'they're yak, that er they, en when he brout 
'em yhom, he put them up theyar to seeasen, an' they've 
been theyar ever sen. It was varra thoutful on him 
wasn't it? Byt he alius sed hoo 'at I sud heve a yak 
coffin as his fudd'r hed when he deet, seeah he bout them 
boards 'at they wud be ready when they wer wantit.' I 
remember the doctor told us that he was somewhat sur- 
prised to hear the old woman talk thus about the boards 
of her coffin, under which she had slept for nearly ten 
years, but as she seemed in deep thought, he made no 
remark. After a few minutes she began again. 'Aye! 
why, I've sometimes thowt he mebbe disappointed hissel' 
for me, an' put off an' put off, thinking it wadn't be lang, 
an' it winn't noo, doctor? it winn't be lang noo, an' t' 
booards'll be well seesened, an' Ise hev a yak coffin, an' he 
can wed wheeah he will. God bless him, he's been a good 
son to me iver sen his fadd'r deet, an' that's long long 
sen. Doctor, ye think it waynt be lang noo ? neeah, neeah, 
it'll not be so lang noo nir I gang.' " 

"Oh, Mrs. Keith, is that really true?" asked Bride, 
with a horrified expression. 

" Yes, Mrs. Gresham my dear, it is as true as I sit 
here. I remember as though it were yesterday how 
father laughed over the story, and then he said it was 
too good to be lost, and that he should write it down. 


The Chimney-Corner 


155 


Father always wrote down anything that took his fancy, 
and I have an old copy-book locked up in the oak chest, 
that is just full of queer old stories/’ 

'' Mother is a rare hand at a tale on a winter’s night,” 
observed Hammond Keith. He was evidently very proud 
of her; there was an affectionate gleam in his blue eyes, 
and Mrs. Keith beamed on him across the table. 

*'Aye, he was always the one for tales ever since he 
was a little lad no higher than the table. But there, I 
won’t be chattering like a daft old magpie any longer; 
and you have never told these ladies. Ham my dear, about 
the bit of good fortune that has come to you.” 

“ Mother !” in a remonstrant voice, and the young 
farmer flushed a little. 

'' Ham’s so modest. Miss Gresham,” returned his 
mother, that he never will talk of things that concern 
himself; but I am quite sure you will be interested to 
hear that my son has had quite a nice little sum of money 
left him a few weeks ago by an old cousin of father’s 
who lived at Brough.” 

Oh, yes. Miss Warburton was mentioning it to me,” 
returned Elinor. Then there was a surprised look in 
Hammond Keith’s eye. 

‘‘ Did Miss Agnes tell you about the house he has 
bought in Red Thorn Lane?” asked Mrs. Keith before 
he could speak. ‘‘ I don’t hold with it myself, but Ham 
thinks it will be a fine investment for his money; but I 
would sooner have put it in the bank myself.” 

“ Mother is in mortal terror that I shall want her to 
leave Crow Farm and live at ‘The Chimney-Corner,’ and 
nothing I can say seems to keep her mind easy,” observed 
Hammond; but though he smiled, he still seemed some- 
what embarrassed. 

“ Oh, it is a pretty enough little place, but the thatched 
roof and all those trees seem to smother me. You can’t 
teach old dogs new tricks, as I tell my boy ; and I would 
sooner be doing my dairy work and feeding my chickens 
and ducklings than be sitting in the parlour at ‘The 
Chimney-Corner’ with my hands before me, trying to 
read the newspaper, and napping over it.” 

“ Mother thinks I want to turn her into a fine lady,” 


156 


No Friend Like a Sister 


returned Hammond still gravely, because I do not like 
to see her work so hard at her age. I tell her it is waste 
of good material, and that mothers are too precious.’’ 

'‘Aye, you talk a deal of nonsense, my lad,” returned 
Mrs. Keith composedly. " But I take after my mother, 
you see ; she was the woman for work, and work she did 
until her limbs and sight failed her. And I would sooner 
wear out, that I would, than be laid up in lavender, and 
wear a black silk gown every afternoon expecting visitors. 
But there, we won’t waste the evening in argle-bargling, 
as they say in Mallerstang. We are just buzzing like 
two bumble-kites against the window-pane. Now I must 
wash up the china, for it belonged to my grandmother 
Fawcett. And as it is so fine and sunny, perhaps the 
ladies might like to go round to Red Thom Lane and 
have a peep at the house ? ” And as this proposition 
was received with marked favour, Kathleen ran off to 
fetch her hat, and Hammond remarked he must go in 
search of the dogs and the key. 

He came back in a few minutes accompanied by a 
large wire-haired terrier, which Elinor knew was Dan, 
and a handsome fox terrier, that she at once guessed 
was Agnes Warburton’s old favourite Jock. He was an 
intelligent and friendly little animal, evidently thorough- 
bred and well-trained, and he seemed on excellent terms 
with his new master. 

" I should have thought Dan would have been jealous,” 
she said, as she and Hammond Keith led the way. Bride 
and Kathleen following; but Mr. Keith shook his head. 

" Dan and I understand each other too well. Miss 
Gresham. When I knew Jock was coming to the farm, 
I took Dan into confidence, and in consequence he has 
always treated Jock with the utmost consideration. 
Animals can be as generous as human beings if you 
only treat them properly. Jock is still faithful to his 
mistress. I think he has made up his mind that he is 
only here on a visit, and that he must be on his best 
behavi®ur. That’s a fine dog of yours,” with an admir- 
ing glance at Rufus, who was just then pacing beside 
his mistress in rather a majestic fashion, while Jock 
and Dan skirmished round them. The next moment an 


The Chimney-Corner 


157 


ecstatic bark rent the air, and Jock was leaping madly 
up against the closed door of the little toy-shop and 
stationer’s. His quick ear had detected a familiar voice, 
and his excitement was so great that Hammond Keith 
took pity on him and opened the door. As he did so, a 
lady rose from her seat beside the counter and began 
fondling the dog. '' Why, Jock, old fellow, how did you 
discover me ? ” she observed in surprise ; and then, as 
she saw the little group on the pavement, she advanced 
with heightened colour, Jock still leaping up at her in 
his exuberant joy. 

'' Jock heard your voice, Miss Warburton,” replied Mr. 
Keith, and he went nearly wild with excitement, so I 
had to open the door. I am afraid we have disturbed 
you.” 

Oh, no, I have made my purchases and I was only 
chatting with Mrs. Burrell. Are you all taking a walk 
this lovely evening?” 

No, we are only going round to Red Thorn Lane. 
Mother wanted these ladies to see ‘The Chimney-Corner.’ 
You might come with us. Miss Warburton, for you were 
wishing to see the inside of the house, and I have the key 
in my pocket.” 

“Another time,” she returned in a low voice ; “ I have 
been out a long time.” But Hammond Keith persisted. 

“ It is only a step back, and I shall be glad to have 
your opinion,” he returned rather seriously. And to his 
satisfaction Kathleen chimed in, “ Oh, do come with us. 
Miss Warburton. And you are not really in a hurry, 
because you told Hugh that you were not dining until 
eight to-night, and it is only half-past six. It is my last 
evening too, so it would only be nice of you.” Then 
rather reluctantly Agnes yielded. She walked on with 
Elinor and Kathleen, and Hammond dropped behind. 
Bride found him a little silent ; he seemed listening to the 
animated talk between the three ladies. They were now 
in Red Thorn Lane, a pretty secluded road pleasantly 
shaded by trees. To Elinor’s surprise it was only a blind 
lane leading to some fields ; and about a hundred yards 
down, there was a long white cottage with a thatched 
roof, and a fine old porch with oak seats black with age. 


158 


No Friend Like a Sister 


A large garden lay round it, and there was a little 
orchard, and on every side there stretched green meadows 
where cattle browsed. In the field immediately behind 
the house was a large deep pool with a clump of trees 
beside it, and a little wooden building evidently a shelter 
for cattle. 

What a sweet old place ! exclaimed Bride ; ‘‘ this is 
just the sort of cottage in which I should love to live. 
That thatched roof is delicious and so is that porch; it 
looks as though generations of Darbies and Joans had 
sat there. I like its name too, don’t you, Nora? ‘The 
Chimney-Corner ’ has such a cosy sound.” 

“ It is very peaceful,” returned Elinor. “ Oh yes, it is 
a charming old cottage, and those wide low windows 
under the eaves must be delightful. Look at that dovecot, 
Miss Warburton, against the yew hedge, did you ever 
see anything so quaintly pretty? And there is a yew 
terrace, only it is so untrimmed; and that little dark 
summer-house in the corner is nearly swallowed in ivy.” 

“ It has not been inhabited for some years,” returned 
Hammond Keith ; “ its owner died abroad. When I 
bought it with cousin Fawcett’s money, I thought it 
would be rather a good investment. I had always had a 
fancy for the place, and Crow Farm was never to my 
taste. I have no place for my books, and our living- 
room is a bit public, when one wants a quiet read. Do 
you see that field with the pond. Miss Gresham ? I bought 
that along with the cottage ; I wanted a bit more grazing 
land. You can see for yourself that the place has been 
neglected ; the kitchen garden is overrun with weeds, and 
looks as overgrown as the old Croft Churchyard.” 

“ Do you expect your mother will ever take to it ? ” 
asked Kathleen, who was glancing round her with bird- 
like curiosity. 

No, Miss Kathleen, I am not so dense as to believe 
that; and what’s more, I shall never distress her dear 
old heart by asking her to leave Crow Farm. Mother 
has spent all her married life there, and she would never 
settle down happily in any other place.” 

Then what was the good of buying it, Mr. Keith ! ” 
exclaimed Kathleen. But Hammond did not at once 


The Chimney-Corner 


159 


answer; he was inserting the key in the lock, and it 
was a little rusty and hard to turn. 

It was a good investment,’’ he said presently, as the 
door creaked on its hinges, and I got it for less than 
its value. If it comes to the worst, one could always 
let it ; but I hope it will never come to that.” Hammond 
spoke in an undertone, he was not addressing any one 
in particular; but Agnes Warburton, who was standing 
behind him, stepped back and signed to Bride to precede 
her. Elinor thought she seemed nervous and ill at ease. 

They stepped into a small square hall, with a sitting- 
room on either side of it. Both the rooms were long 
and somewhat narrow, but the wide windows and win- 
dow-seats gave them a cheerful aspect. The kitchens 
were good, and there was a small outside dairy. 

Upstairs, there were three or four good bedrooms, 
and a whole nest of small rooms, opening out of each 
other, with tiny lattice windows opening in the thatch. 
Hammond Keith called it a rabbit-warren of a place, and 
said it must be hot in summer. I think it would be a 
good plan to throw two small rooms into one, it would 
give more air and ventilation,” he remarked ; ‘‘one would 
like one’s servant to have breathing-space. I am sure 
you will agree with me. Miss Warburton? ” And Agnes 
said a little hurriedly that it was a good idea, and would 
be a great improvement. 

“ Milner strongly advised my doing it,” he returned. 
But at that moment there was a diversion ; for Kathleen, 
who was peeping through a small window in the thatch, 
exclaimed in a delighted voice that she saw Hugh coming 
up the lane; and then they all went down the steep, 
ladder-like staircase to greet him. 

He had ridden fast from Mexfield, and looked rather 
heated, but Bride privately thought that she had never 
seen him look better. “ He is wonderfully handsome,” 
she said to herself, “ and Nora is right, he certainly has 
an odd resemblance to Sir Harry Vincent, but it is more 
his expression than his features.” 

They all went into the garden after this. There was a 
narrow grass terrace at the end, against the yew hedge, 
where one had a charming view over the meadows. A 


160 


No Friend Like a Sister 


little gate opened on the field-path. Hugh Milner sug- 
gested to Elinor that they should stroll across the 
meadow, and after a moment’s hesitation she consented. 
Bride and Kathleen accompanied them. It was not until 
they were retracing their steps that they discovered that 
Miss Warburton and Hammond Keith were still on the 
terrace. As they came forward to meet them, Elinor 
thought that Mr. Keith looked unusually serious, and 
that Miss Warburton’s face wore a worried expression. 

It was growing late, so Elinor said that they must 
hurry back to bid Mrs. Keith good-bye. At the end of 
the lane Agnes took leave of them, and a quarter of 
an hour later, Elinor and Bride mounted their bicycles 
and rode swiftly down the road in the direction of 
Meadow Thorpe. Hammond Keith had been called 
away, but the brother and sister stood at the gate until 
the cyclists were out of sight. Hugh was telling himself 
that he had never seen any woman ride more gracefully 
than Miss Gresham, when Kathleen laid her hand on his 
arm, with a sigh. 

Oh, it has been such a delightful afternoon ! If you 
could only have been with us, Hugh! To think I shall 
be missing all you dear people to-morrow ” — and Kath- 
leen’s bright eyes were a little misty. 


XX 


“ A Flashing Search-Light ” 

I gave thee of my seed to sow — 

Bringest thou me my hundredfold ’’ ? 

Can I look up with face aglow, 

And answer, “ Father, here is gold ” ? 

Lowell. 

It is great folly not to part with your own faults, which is 
possible; but to try instead to escape from other people^s faults, 
which is impossible. — Marcus Aurelius. 

The visit to Parkhurst the following day was most 
successful. The Sedgwicks were pleasant, friendly 
people, and they insisted on Mr. Keith as well as the 
ladies remaining to luncheon. 

Both Elinor and Bride were delighted with the mare 
and cart. Meg was certainly a pretty creature, and 
very gentle ; she was evidently accustomed to being 
petted, and thrust her nose into Bride’s hand in search 
of sugar. Before they left the bargain had been com- 
pleted, and Bride drove her back to the station with much 
enjoyment and pride. Mr. Sedgwick undertook that both 
cart and mare should be sent over to Meadow Thorpe 
in the following week, and Hammond Keith advised them 
to send Joe Twitchett to Leicester to be measured for his 
livery. 

The next two or three days passed quietly. On 
Tuesdav thev were to spend the afternoon at Tvlcote 
Hall. 

Mrs. Warburton had to drive over to Masked earlier 
in the day, so she had arranged to call for the Greshams 
on her way back. Agnes was with her. She was ex- 
ceedingly friendly in her manner to both of them, but 
Elinor soon perceived that Bride was the favourite; 
she made her sit beside her and gave her the greater 
share of her attention. Agnes was very quiet. Later on, 

II i6i 


162 


No Friend Like a Sister 


when Elinor knew her better, she discovered that she 
was always a little silent and subdued in her mother’s 
presence, and that Mrs. Warburton generally monopolised 
the attention of her guests. Agnes was extremely sensi- 
tive, and her mbther’s quickness of perception, her bright, 
easy flow of words, and the keen edge of her wit were 
a little disconcerting to Agnes’s gentle denseness ; there 
were times when she felt like an awkward school-girl, as 
she watched her mother’s queenly little airs and graces. 

I wish you would talk more when we have friends, 
Agnes,” Mrs. Warburton had said once in rather an 
injured voice. ‘‘ It seemed so odd that a woman of your 
age should have so little to say. It is all very well for 
Gale to remark that you are a tete-d-tete talker, but when 
I left you alone with Mrs. Lindsay the other day, she 
seemed quite relieved when I came back to the room.” 

I am sorry, mother,” returned Agnes with a sigh. 

I am afraid she did not find me very amusing. I 
never do know what to say to Mrs. Lindsay; she seems 
to me to care for nothing but hunting and bridge.” 

She is a little horsy in her tastes perhaps,” returned 
Mrs. Warburton, '' but she is not a bad sort of woman 
and I rather like her myself. If she had only a nursery 
to occupy her, and keep her out of the stables ; but 
Mortimer Lindsay encourages her in her mannish tastes ” 
— for the Lindsays were distant connections of the War- 
burtons. It is really a pity,” she went on, '' that you 
have so little savoir-faire and knowledge of the world ; 
in society one must expect to meet all sorts and conditions 
of men. You are not sufficiently flexible, Aggie, I have 
often told you so.” 

I wish for your sake that you had not such a stupid 
daughter,” returned poor Agnes a little sadly ; for these 
maternal admonitions, however well-meant, only de- 
pressed her. ‘‘ How was one to help one’s nature !” 
Agnes said to herself. Mrs. Warburton gave her an 
odd look and slightly shrugged her shoulders ; perhaps 
she too was beginning to feel that it was hopeless. 

They drove through the village and turned up by the 
church, and Mrs. Warburton pointed out the Vicarage 
to Elinor — a large red brick building, standing a little 


A Flashing Search-Light 


163 


back from the road. That is where my son works/’ 
she observed ; he has turned the whole of the ground 
floor into a library and study, and the books are begim 
ning to overflow into one of the upstairs rooms. Last 
night it was nearly three o’clock before he came across.” 
Mrs. Warburton said this in a tolerant tone, for she 
would not have confessed before her daughter that she 
had lain awake all those hours until she had heard Gale’s 
footsteps under her window. She had the spirit of an 
old Spartan in her and would rather have borne any 
amount of fatigue and discomfort than own to such 
maternal weakness. 

A pleasant carriage drive led to the Hall, and the 
soft misty green of the spring foliage on the fine old 
trees and shrubs was indescribably beautiful. Tylcote 
Hall was an old red brick house surrounded by lawns, 
with an old-fashioned, walled-in kitchen garden behind. 
The entrance hall was large and well furnished, and 
as they crossed it Agnes observed to Elinor that on 
summer afternoons she often sat there. There is such 
a pleasant view of the meadows, and I like to hear the 
wood-pigeons cooing in the trees. Mother,” she con- 
tinued, as tea is not ready, we might go into the garden 
a little.” But Mrs. Warburton was rather tired with 
her drive, and preferred to remain indoors, and Bride, 
who knew Elinor’s pleasure in Agnes Warburton’s society, 
offered to remain with her hostess. This was unselfish 
on Bride’s part, for she would much rather have been 
out in the spring sunshine. 

It was a pretty old garden, and Elinor guessed how 
delightful it must be in summer-time when the trees 
were in full leafage. There must be charming little 
shady nooks, and even now the lawns had a well-kept, 
velvety look. The kitchen garden was very sunny and 
peaceful, and the wide borders were full of spring flowers 
— daffodils and narcissi and grape hyacinths, and a grand 
show of border auriculas with their varied colours — pale 
lilac and rich purple and rosy pink to deep crimson, now 
and then toned down by soft, smoky grey. Later on, 
the delphiniums and oriental poppies would have their 
turn, and great sheafs of white Madonna lilies. You 


164 


No Friend Like a Sister 


must see it in June/' Agnes said, as they walked down 
the narrow paths. '' I think the bees and the butterflies 
love it best then ; it is a perfect feast of colour and per- 
fume. I love all flowers, but I think the Madonna lily 
is my favourite." 

Tea-roses are my special delights," returned Elinor, 
and Bride loves lilies of the valley. There is only one 
tiny clump at Wildcroft, but next season we are deter- 
mined to have more. Do you like gardening. Miss 
Warburton? " 

I have never tried it, but I am sure it must be in- 
teresting," returned Agnes. But she forbore to add that 
she had never been encouraged to take up this pursuit. 
Mrs. Warburton always gave orders to the gardener, and 
her daughter feared that any attempt on her part in this 
direction would be regarded as interference. Agnes 
always gathered the flowers for the drawing-room and 
morning-room, but she seldom ventured to arrange a gay 
little bouquet for some poor neighbour. Her mother 
had seen a bunch of clove carnations in her hand one 
day, and had not looked quite pleased when she heard 
they were for old Peggy Stevenson. 

'' Peggy does so love these dark red cloves," Agnes 
said pleadingly ; they used to grow in her old garden 
at Southwell." 

I daresay," returned her mother drily, for Mrs. 
Warburton was somewhat limited in her sympathies. 
‘‘ But I don't see why the carnation-bed is to be robbed 
of its best blooms for Peggy, especially as it happens 
to be my favourite flower." Then Agnes, without a word, 
placed the carnations in a vase that always stood on her 
mother's toilet table. But that afternoon she went to 
Crow Farm and begged Mrs. Keith to give her a few 
for Peggy. 

To be sure I will. Miss Agnes my dear," returned 
her friend kindly ; "" but I thought you were telling me 
the other day that you had such grand show of cloves 
up at the Hall ? " Agnes coloured ; she had forgotten 
that she had said this, and she could not contradict her 
own words. 

'' Yes, you are right, Mrs. Keith, and our round bed 


A Flashing Search-Light 


165 


is quite full; but they are mother’s favourite flowers, 
and she does not like to have them picked.” Then Mrs. 
Keith nodded as though she understood, and put on her 
sun-bonnet, and Peggy’s old heart was gladdened by the 
brave posy that Agnes laid on her lap. The old woman 
fairly sobbed as she raised the flowers in the trembling 
numbed hands, that could hardly hold them for weak- 
ness. ‘‘ Dear heart alive, but they are grand flowers, 
Miss Warburton. They used to grow in faither’s pleace 
when I was a little meed, and faither was terribly proud 
of them. Mommy would tell him not to crack about 
them so, but faither would have it that not even t’ vicar 
could beat his cloves ; and the smell makes me feel like 
a little meed again, that it do” — and Peggy wiped away 
a tear as she spoke. 

Mrs. Warburton would have been surprised and even 
a little shocked if she had ever realised how these small 
acts of unconscious selfishness and tyranny robbed Agnes 
of many an innocent enjoyment, — it was no pleasure to 
her to gather flowers, if her mother begrudged them. 
The only privilege which remained to her that she really 
prized was the arrangement of the church vases, and her 
Sunday task in the vestry was always a joy to her. 

Elinor was in no hurry to return to the house, but 
Agnes thought that her mother would be expecting them. 

Tea will be ready by this time,” she observed, and 
very likely they will be waiting for us ” — and this proved 
to be the case. As they entered the drawing-room, a tall 
man in clerical garb, who was standing with his back to 
the door talking to Bride, turned round, and Elinor at 
once recognised the fine features and the short curly 
beard of the preacher they had heard in Dewhurst 
Church. 

“ Miss Gresham, this is my son,” observed Mrs. War- 
burton, and there was a soft little thrill in her voice as 
she spoke. Then Mr. Warburton shook hands with Elinor 
rather gravely, and his keen, brilliant eyes looked at her 
in a questioning manner. It was his usual habit when 
he greeted strangers, but it often made shy people feel 
uncomfortable. Mr. Warburton seems to look through 
and through one,” remarked a lady once, '' as though he 


166 


No Friend Like a Sister 


wanted to find out all about one in a moment, and did not 
care to take much trouble about it/’ 

As Elinor was not the least shy, she bore the vicar’s 
penetrating glance quite calmly. '' If it is a mannerism, 
it is a disagreeable one,” she said afterwards to Bride; 

one doesn’t want a flashing search-light turned on one. 
But when he smiled and began to talk, he was as pleasant 
as any ordinary person. He really is a most striking- 
looking man.” 

‘‘ I thought him very stiff and formidable,” returned 
Bride, and I was so thankful when you came in, Nora, 
and he turned his attention to you. Oh, I daresay he 
is pleasant enough, but I never felt so stupid and shy 
in my life.” 

Elinor laughed. Mr. Warburton was undoubtedly 
somewhat formidable, and his stately manners were a 
little chilling at first ; but on the whole she had been rather 
agreeably surprised in the vicar of Tylcote. After the 
first few minutes he had visibly thawed and unbent. It 
was a pity that he so seldom smiled, but he was evidently 
grave and reserved by nature; but nevertheless he made 
himself very pleasant to his mother’s guests. 

Elinor could not make up her mind whether the con- 
versation really interested him, and now and then a 
suspicion crossed her that he was trying to talk down 
to her level. 

He was extremely courtly in his manners, and she 
liked to see him wait on his mother; he paid her little 
lover-like attentions, and there was evidently a quiet 
understanding between them, which was close and yet 
undemonstrative. 

In her son’s presence Mrs. Warburton seldom mo- 
nopolised the conversation, she was too well pleased to 
hear him talk; it was one of her secret troubles that so 
few people interested him, and that he cared so little for 
society. In her heart she had always recognised the 
fact that it would be well for him to marry ; and it spoke 
volumes for the depth and reality of her maternal love, 
that she would have yielded her monopoly of his affection 
if he had ever told her that his happiness depended on 
any such marriage. 


A Flashing Search-Light 


167 


‘‘ It would be like signing my own death-warrant/’ 
she had once said to herself, ‘‘ for I don't believe that I 
could be content with the second place in my son's affec- 
tion ; but as long as I lived he should never know this " ; 
and there was little doubt that Mrs. Warburton would 
have done her best to carry out this heroic resolve, what- 
ever suffering it might involve to her. 

Now and then she would tell him half playfully and 
half seriously that he was getting too much in a groove, 
and he was in danger of becoming a mere bookworm. 

If you could only meet the right woman. Gale, and 
fall in love with her," she once said to him; but Mr. 
Warburton never took the remark in good part. 

I am married to my work," he said once ; I have 
no need of a wife while my mother is living." But though 
these words had been honey-sweet in Mrs. Warburton's 
ears, she could not refrain from a note of warning. 

“ My dear," she said a little sadly, ‘‘ a man is likely 
to outlive his mother, — and Agnes is no companion for 
you." But he had made no reply to this, and a moment 
later had left the room. 

Mrs. Warburton was fully aware that the right woman 
had not hitherto crossed Gale’s path, and that he had 
shown no disposition to fall in love. I wonder if the 
woman is living who would satisfy him," she thought 
once ; “ girls are so independent and outspoken in these 
days — if they are clever, they are opinionative and self- 
asserting — and Gale would expect his wife to share his 
opinions." But though Mrs. Warburton sighed and 
shook her head, she was not sorry that no rival for his 
affections had yet appeared. 

Gale Warburton could talk well on most subjects if he 
was in the mood to be agreeable, but unless he were with 
kindred spirits he never let himself really go. His mother 
would have been astonished if she could have listened 
to his conversation with his old Balliol friends, when they 
were discussing some subject of vital interest; it would 
have satisfied her maternal pride to see how his clear 
intellect and undoubted learning dominated his fellows. 

Gale Warburton was aware of his own deficiencies in 
general society, and in the presence of ladies he was often 


168 


No Friend Like a Sister 


very silent, but in his own house he was bound to make 
himself agreeable. 

Bride had been too shy to respond at all freely to his 
remarks, but he found Miss Gresham less difficult. 

Elinor was not specially clever or intellectual, but she 
was intelligent and sympathetic, and had read a great 
deal, and then she was a good listener. She liked people 
to talk about their special hobbies, and declared quite 
seriously that it never tired or bored her. 

People are always at their best if they talk about the 
subject that interests them most,’’ she said once to Frances. 
'' Oh, you need not smile in that amused way ; it is not 
that I wish to be all things to all men, but I like people 
to be in earnest. If I had my way, I would talk to an 
engineer about railways or bridges, or to a schoolmaster 
about education, or to a member of parliament about 
politics, — at least I should like them to talk to me. I 
daresay I should be often out of my depth, and should 
have to hold my tongue from sheer ignorance, but all the 
same I should be interested ” — and Elinor really meant 
what she said. 

Strange to say, she would even have listened quite 
patiently if Mr. Warburton had chosen to discourse to 
her on the latest deciphered hieroglyphics or his favourite 
Quatrains of Hali, but of this he was perfectly uncon- 
scious. He talked instead of a little volume of Essays 
that was exciting a good deal of interest just then. Elinor 
had read them, and her remarks were so intelligent and 
appreciative that Mrs. Warburton grew interested and 
joined the discussion. 

Bride listened for a short time, then she and Agnes 
by mutual consent withdrew to the window, to look at 
a beautiful piece of embroidery that the latter was work- 
ing, and this was so congenial to both of them that they 
were soon engrossed. Elinor looked across the room 
once, and saw their heads nod-nodding happily over the 
embroidery frame, and then quietly resumed her role of 
listener. She was enjoying herself thoroughly. Only 
once there was a little jarring note struck. Mrs. War- 
burton was telling her that there was one essay that did 
not entirely meet their approval. 


A Flashing Search-Light 


169 


We both think the writer is a little hard and narrow 
in his views of clerical work. My son has never approved 
of house-to-house visitation in a country parish.’' 

But I thought ” began Elinor ; and then she 

stopped, for it was growing late and she had no wish 
to start a discussion. Then Gale Warburton gave her 
one of his quick, piercing looks. 

“ You agree with the writer of the essay and not 
with my mother ? ” he asked rather abruptly. 

‘‘ I think I do,” she returned bravely. ‘‘ I share my 
brother Lyall’s opinion, that a parish priest should know 
his people individually, and that in this way he often 
influences them for good. I remember so well one of 
Lyall’s speeches — 'Sermons are good for Sundays, but 
we want week-day religion as well. I often do my best 
bit of work chatting with a man in his own chimney- 
corner, or with a woman at her washtub.’ ” 

" Your brother and I hold very different views on this 
subject,” he replied rather drily; and Elinor saw that 
her speech had not pleased him, for he seemed to stiffen 
a little. He was about to say more when the sound of 
carriage wheels checked him. " Mother,” he said hur- 
riedly, " I think you have other visitors, and I am 
expecting Milner on business. I am afraid I must ask 
the ladies to excuse me.” But as he shook hands with 
Elinor he said in a low voice, " To be continued on the 
next convenient occasion ” ; but his smile was a little 
ambiguous. 

Elinor thought that moment of her speech to Frances 
that Sunday evening. " The Evangel was there, but all 
the same he is no Evangelist,” and in her heart she was 
sorry because she knew those words were true. A 
moment later two elderly ladies entered the room, and 
shortly afterwards they took their leave. 


XXI 


In Leapy June 

All the sounds 

And thoughts which still are beautiful, Youth, Song, 

Dawn, Spring, Renewal, and my soul was glad 
Of all the freshness, and I felt again 
The youth and spring-tide of the world, and thoughts 
Which feigned those fair and gracious fantasies. 

Epic of Hades. 

The weeks passed on only too rapidly; April changed 
to May, ‘‘ the youth, the smile, the music of the year,’’ 
and May merged into June, and still Elinor’s and Bride’s 
letters spoke in no measured terms of their increasing 
enjoyment and delight in their environment. 

Frances’ face would brighten as she read. There 
never were two people so pleased with themselves and 
their surroundings, she thought. 

We are so happy, Francie dear,” Bride wrote one 
delicious May morning as she sat at the low window of 
the little morning-room. Before her eyes stretched the 
green uplands with groups of feeding cattle dotted here 
and there. The leaves of the great sycamore tree on the 
lawn were rustling in the light breeze. Some tiny white 
cloudlets flecked the soft Wue sky. Bride could hear 
the swish of Joe Twitchett’s scythe as he mowed the grass 
in the little orchard. Then Elinor came up the path with 
a great yellow basin in her hands, followed by a strag- 
gling, waddling train of ducklings. Bride laid down her 
pen to watch them ; their wobbling gait and eager yellow 
bills always amused her — their hungry protests and frank 
greediness were so truly infantine. Rufus, who was lying 
on a sunny patch of grass, opened his eyes and winked at 
them lazily. The next moment Scrap flew round the 
corner with a shrill little bark of excitement. 

Bride gave a long, slow sigh of intense enjoyment, 
then she went back to her letter. 


In Leafy June 


171 


‘‘ When one has made a great mistake in one’s life, it 
is such a blessing to have done the right thing at last,’’ 
she went on, '' and to know that Lyall approves so thor- 
oughly of the step we have taken. I have just had such 
a dear letter from him ; it is far kinder than I deserve. 

''I wish you could see Elinor just now, surrounded 
by baby ducks ; it is such a pretty sight. I really think 
she grows younger and sweeter every day. Do you re- 
member that little anxious pucker in her forehead that 
she so often had, and how she used to compress her 
lips as though she were trying to keep back irritable 
words — well. I never see either of these things now. 
Just fancy what it is, dear, to spend the whole lifelong 
day, from early morning to dewy night without hearing 
a cross or jarring word; it is almost peaceful enough for 
Paradise, only, as Nora sometimes says, it is too good 
to last — and I am afraid she is right.” 

And then came Elinor’s turn. Her weekly budget to 
Frances was often written in the form of a journal — each 
day’s events jotted down at night — for she was never 
content unless that dearest sister shared all her pleasures. 
Every new acquaintance must be described for Frances’ 
benefit; every new book which had afforded her enjoy- 
ment must be discussed between them. When Sister 
Gresham was busy, she often carried about these letters 
in her pocket until she could find time to peruse them 
quietly. Her dark, thoughtful eyes would soften as she 
read and re-read them. Dear Elinor,” she would say 
to herself, ‘‘ she deserves to be happy.” And then 
Frances would set about her work all the more cheer- 
fully and briskly for the pleasant thoughts that filled her 
mind. 

Elinor had no lack of material for her letters ; she left 
Bride to describe their new favourite, Meg. Bride drew 
such a faithful portrait of her that Frances declared that 
she could see the pretty creature quite plainly in her 
mind’s eye, from mane to tail. Bride looks so nice in 
her new driving coat,” Elinor wrote once, and Joe 
Twitchett is quite smart in his livery. The first time he 
wore his new clothes he said he thought himself ‘so foine 
that he was fairly ashamed to show himsen.’ T shall go 


172 


No Friend Like a Sister 


next ways clean through Dewhurst for t' misses to see 
me/ You have no idea what droll expressions Joe uses. 
The other day he perplexed us both by talking about a 
strike of potatoes, but I found out afterwards that he 
meant a bushel ; and yesterday he told Bride that he was 
regularly puckered digging the new bed in the kitchen 
garden, and when she suggested having Tom Arnitt, the 
shepherd's son, to help him, he shrugged his shoulders 
and said he had no mind to work with a shack. Of 
course, being so very clever, my dear, you know a shack 
is a worthless fellow ! Bride has learnt to drive so nicely. 
Mr. Keith kindly gave her some hints, and went out with 
her once or twice. He and Bride are great friends, and 
she does so love going to Crow Farm. The last time we 
went Agnes Warburton was there, and as Mr. Milner 
was working at home that day, he joined us at the tea- 
table. I don't think I ever spent a pleasanter afternoon 
in my life, — the Keiths are such thoroughly nice people." 

As time went on Elinor and Bride paid frequent visits 
to Tylcote Hall. Mrs. Warburton was always sending 
them invitations. She asked people to meet them, and 
seemed to take great pleasure in their society ; and 
Frances' clear eyes soon discovered that the growing 
intimacy between Elinor and Agnes Warburton was fast 
developing into friendship. When Frances playfully 
taxed her with this, Elinor did not try to deny the fact. 

“ I am certainly becoming much attached to Agnes," 
she wrote back ; she has such a sweet gentle nature 
that even Bride cannot help loving her. I daresay you 
are right in thinking that her character wants strengthen- 
ing, and that she has not sufficient backbone, but this 
only makes me long to help her. I do not think I ever 
felt more sorry for any one in my life. She is so utterly 
lonely and misunderstood, and then I fancy she has other 
troubles; perhaps some day, when we know each other 
better, she will talk to me more about herself." 

Frances put down her letter and went on with her 
breakfast. 

I am glad for both their sakes," she said to herself. 

It will be a fresh interest for Elinor. She has never 
had any close friendship before, and she will be such a 


In Leafy June 


173 


comfort to Miss Warburton. Elinor has such a sunny 
nature, and her temper is so even and equable, and then 
she has such healthy views of life that she would be a 
rock of strength to a person like Agnes Warburton, who 
is naturally timid and despondent. How good she has 
been to Bride all this time. And then there is another 
reason why I am glad,’’ — and here an amused smile came 
to Frances’ lips, — '' perhaps her new friendship will make 
her more tolerant of Edith Holdsworth.” 

Agnes Warburton’s increasing intimacy with the 
Greshams brought fresh interests into her starved life. 
For the first time she tasted the joys of unrestrained 
freedom of intercourse with congenial and cultivated 
minds, and sympathy with her tastes and pursuits. Elinor 
never allowed her to feel her intellectual deficiencies. 
When Agnes lamented over her inability to discuss some 
book in which her friend was interested, Elinor generally 
managed to say something comforting. 

'' We cannot all have the same tastes,” she said once. 
'' Books are delightful, and they certainly add to one’s 
happiness, but there are other things in life to interest 
one.” 

Yes, but you and Bride read so much,” returned 
Agnes wistfully. 

Bride does not read deep books,” replied Elinor. 

She is an inveterate novel-reader, and wastes a good 
deal of valuable time over them. Don’t worry about it, 
Agnes. You know my sister Frances is my closest 
friend; when we are together we often talk for the 
hour together over some book that has interested us, 
and even now we manage to exchange our opinions 
pretty freely.” 

How delightful it must be to have such a sister,” 
sighed Agnes; but Elinor only smiled quietly in acqui- 
escence. 

She seldom spoke to any one about her love for Frances. 
It always seemed to her too sacred for discussion. Be- 
sides, there was no need of words, Frances was simply 
her other self. ‘‘ When one’s sister is also one’s friend, 
there is nothing more to say,” she had observed once to 
Lyall, and he had understood her. 


174 


No Friend Like a Sister 


No, there was no need for Agnes to force herself to 
take interest in the books Elinor loved. There were 
other pursuits in which she could gladly join them. She 
charmed Bride by lending her patterns of embroidery 
and teaching her new stitches. Bride was anxious to 
embroider some stoles for Lyall, which should be ready 
by Easter; and Agnes, who had taken lessons by her 
own wish in the Kensington School of Art Needlework, 
at once offered to teach her. 

It soon became a regular custom for Agnes to cycle 
or walk over to Meadow Thorpe at least once or twice 
a week, and to spend a few hours with her friends, help- 
ing them garden or working with Bride. As the weather 
grew warmer, Elinor would have her little tea-table placed 
under one of the shady trees on the lawn. Hammond 
Keith coming over one afternoon on business found an 
amazing little group on the lawn; for beside the three 
dogs, there was a small grey Persian kitten with a blue 
ribbon round its neck — Bride’s latest acquisition — and 
about a dozen ducklings of all sorts and sizes wobbling 
round them, and dibbling in the grass with their yellow 
bills; while an Alderney cow, with her calf beside her, 
watched them over the low paling, and Meg, who had 
been turned loose for a scamper, was rolling with sheer 
joy in the rough hummocky grass. 

Hammond was only too willing to take the seat Elinor 
offered him and avail himself of her kind hospitality; 
but Agnes, who had been talking quite cheerfully all the 
afternoon, became very silent. Elinor was afraid that 
he noticed it. More than once she saw him looking at 
her; then his manner changed and he seemed a little 
thoughtful and abstracted, and by and bye he made some 
excuse and took his leave rather hurriedly. Agnes did 
not recover her former cheerfulness, it seemed as though 
something had broken that spell of her quiet enjoyment. 
Perhaps Bride was conscious of it, for she said a little 
abruptly that she must not waste her time any more 
chattering, as she wanted to practise her new songs. 

Elinor had some business with Joe Twitchett, but she 
promised to be back soon, and as Agnes intended to walk 
home, she suggested that she and Rufus should accom- 


In Leafy June 175 

pany her a part of the way. Agnes sat still in her 
place. 

When her friends had left her, and as the full rich tones 
of Bride’s voice reached her, the old sad wistful look 
came back to her eyes. How sweet the evening light 
was ! A thrush near her was pouring out a perfect stream 
of liquid melody; the bird-notes seemed to blend with 
Bride’s voice. Flurry, the grey kitten, was playing hide- 
and-seek with Scrap, in and out between the garden 
chairs. Meg, who had rolled to her heart’s content, and 
had not yet worked off her exuberant spirits, suddenly 
kicked up her hoofs and galloped down the meadow, 
startling a group of young heifers as she' passed them, 
while an old grey horse that was quietly feeding under 
the walnut trees, looked after her a little contemptuously. 
‘‘A foolish young thing,” he seemed to be saying to 
himself. 

Elinor did not keep her long waiting; and as soon as 
Agnes had taken leave of Bride, they started for their 
walk, the dogs accompanying them. A little way up the 
lane, Elinor thought she heard a faint mew behind her, 
and there was Flurry with uplifted tail trotting after 
them, in pursuit of her beloved playmates. 

Elinor picked up the tiny creature, and it nestled con- 
tentedly in her arms until it looked like a grey ball of 
wool ; and then they walked on again. I am afraid I 
must not go far,” she observed presently, '' for I ought 
to finish my letter to Frances before supper.” 

Then Agnes assured her that she did not in the least 
mind a solitary walk. Of course I love to have you,” 
she continued a little hurriedly, as though she feared 
Elinor would think her ungrateful for her kind attention. 
But Elinor, who was very quick, perceived that Agnes 
would feel it a relief to be alone. It was evident that her 
spiritsvwere oppressed, and that she found it difficult to 
talk; and after another quarter of a mile, Elinor turned 
back. She had scarcely walked a dozen yards before she 
heard the sound of hoofs on the road, and the next mo- 
ment Hammond Keith rode past. He smiled and raised 
his hat, but did not stop to speak ; then he quickened his 
pace, and was out of sight in a moment. 


176 


No Friend Like a Sister 


'' He has overtaken her/' Elinor said to herself as she 
walked quietly on, and a perplexed, thoughtful expression 
came to her face. I am afraid she was anxious to 
avoid this/' 

Elinor never knew when or how she had guessed 
Agnes's secret, and even now things were by no means 
clear to her. Human nature is not always wise, and 
though it was quite possible that Hammond Keith might 
presume to set his affections on a w^onian so far removed 
from him by the circumstances of her birth and culture, 
Elinor felt sure that any such attachment would be hope- 
less. Even if Agnes were tempted by her loneliness to 
reciprocate such feeling, Elinor knew her well enough 
by this time to feel certain that her sense of duty would 
induce her to do her best to stifle it. ‘^Agnes is not the 
sort of woman to voluntarily lose caste in the eyes of her 
family; she would never have the courage to brave her 
mother's and brother's displeasure,” she said to herself, 
‘‘ and I can only hope and pray that her feelings are not 

really touched ; but in her place ” But Elinor did not 

finish her sentence. She and Frances held rather broad 
views on this subject. In their opinion love — in its 
highest, truest form — was often a miracle-worker, and 
did strange things. 

Bride was rather inquisitive on the subject, and had said 
more than once that Agnes was a little odd in her manner 
to Mr. Keith. I never can make up my mind whether 
she likes or dislikes him,” she had said; but Elinor had 
always tried to put her off the scent, and her assumed 
indifference and want of response had rather surprised 
Bride. But Elinor was only acting up to Frances' rule. 

If you want a person to forget anything,” she had 
once remarked, ^^take my advice, and do not talk about it. 
You know how quickly an ember dies down if you leave 
it alone, but if you fan it you have a flame in a moment.” 
And Elinor had followed this wise counsel. 

Elinor would not have dropped a hint of her 
suspicions even to Frances. The sole remark she had 
ever made was that one brief word in a former letter, 
that she feared Agnes had other troubles; and Frances 
would be the last person to ask any awkward question. 


In Leafy June 


177 


She finished up her letter as cheerfully as possible that 
evening, though with some difficulty, as Flurry insisted 
on sitting close to the blotting-pad, and showed a playful 
desire to pursue the flying pen. Pens had an unholy 
attraction for Flurry, and more than once her tiny paw 
had inserted itself in the ink-bottle. Elinor carried her 
off to the kitchen at last, and finished her letter in peace. 

Bride has just told me that she has a new trouble,’’ 
she wrote, but you need not be alarmed, my dear — it is 
only that the day is not long enough for all we have to 
do. I think she is right, and certainly time seems to fly 
at Meadow Thorpe. There, it is supper-time, and I have 
not said half that I wanted to say. Good-night, God bless 
you, as old nurse used to say. — Your devoted sister, 
Elinor.” 


XXII 


“ Nice, Well-Conducted Young People ” 

Soar with the birds and flutter with the leaf ; 

Dance with the seeded grass in fringy play; 

Sail with the cloud; wave with the dreaming pine, 

And float with nature all the livelong day. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

Imperfection means perfection hid, 

Reserved in part, to grace the after time. 

Browning. 

June was unusually warm that year, and people were 
gjad to take advantage of the fine weather. Garden par- 
ties, tennis, and croquet were the order of the day ; and as 
the Greshams had frequently to drive five or six miles to 
some of the houses, it often entailed the loss of the entire 
afternoon and evening. 

When Bride looked at her neglected embroidery and 
thought of the scanty fragment of time devoted to her 
practising, she felt her complaint was justified, and that 
there was really no time for everything ; but Elinor soon 
consoled her. 

It would be wiser to put it by for wet days,’’ she 
said very sensibly, ‘‘ for the weather is so lovely that it 
would be wrong to stay indoors. We have every right 
to make holiday as it is our first summer here; besides, 
our friends are so good to us that it is our duty to respond 
to their kindness ” ; and though Bride pretended to 
grumble, she was in reality charmed with their increasing 
popularity. 

Joe Twitchett was soon left to his own devices, for 
how was a person to garden all the morning when she 
had to drive half-a-dozen miles in the afternoon, and to 
play tennis or croquet half the evening? as Bride feel- 
ingly observed. 

Haymaking, too, had begun in earnest, and all the 


Nice, Well-Conducted Young People 179 


farmers were busy. When the Croft meadows were 
mown, Hammond Keith rode over daily to superintend 
and keep the men to their work. 

Mrs. Deans sometimes complained that she had scarcely 
time to breathe. '' I am properly tired, Miss Gresham,” 
she would say. When Elinor went into the little farm- 
yard to speak to her, she generally found her at her usual 
work, feeding two lambs who had lost their mother. 
One of them was slightly lame. Billy was a great fa- 
vourite with Patience, and followed her everywhere. 
Once, when they were starting somewhat late for a drive, 
they saw Patience in her white sun-bonnet walking rather 
wearily up the lane, weighed down by the baskets and 
heavy can she was carrying. She looked ready to drop 
with fatigue. 

There wasn’t a creature to help me,” she said, as 
Elinor stopped to remonstrate ; '' every man and boy are 
in the field, for they want to get in some of the hay 
to-night. I am taking the master his tea along with 
George’s and the other men.” Then Elinor made Joe 
Twitchett get down, and Patience and her baskets were 
taken up in his place. Bride peeped into the basket. 
She thought the fresh lettuces, and hard-boiled eggs, 
and thick bread and butter must have been delicious 
viands to the hot, hungry men. Patience thanked them 
gratefully for the lift. ‘‘ I feel quite peert, and thank 
you kindly. Miss Gresham,” she said as she turned into 
the field where Hammond Keith was working with his 
men. 

The great hay carts went to and fro all the next day, 
and the large rick in the yard soon rose above the garden 
wall at Wildcroft. From the little lime walk leading to 
the ruined churchyard, Elinor and Bride could watch the 
men at their work — morning, noon and night the sweet 
fragrant scent permeated the air. 

After their early supper they would often stroll down 
the lane towards the rickyard. The men worked late ; the 
solemn-faced Sibley boys would be playing with Jessie 
and Gilbert Dean, the farm dogs barking and scampering 
about the place. Patience, with tired face and aching 
limbs, would be redding-up the house place. “ I am 


180 


No Friend Like a Sister 


fairly puckered/’ she said one evening with a weary 
little smile, '' and George is so done that he won’t even 
look at his victuals.” 

I think he would enjoy some of our cold lamb and 
salad,” returned Elinor kindly. I will go back to the 
house and send Jenny across with it ; there will be plenty 
for both, Mrs. Deans.” And that night the tired workers 
fared sumptuously on the good things Elinor had so 
thoughtfully provided. George Deans and Patience never 
forgot that act of homely kindness. 

Elinor and Bride generally met Hugh Milner when 
they went to Dewhurst Vicarage or to the Rectory at 
Mexfield — he was a very good tennis and croquet player 
— but he was rarely at the Hall. Elinor soon discovered 
that he was never at his ease in Mrs. Warburton’s pres- 
ence, although he was on excellent terms with the vicar, 
and she shrewdly suspected that he secretly resented the 
patronizing manner of his hostess. She once spoke of it 
to Bride. 

I don’t think Mr. Milner likes coming to the Hall,” 
she said. ‘‘ I am sure Mrs. Warburton means to be kind, 
but she seems to keep him so at a distance, and I am cer- 
tain he dislikes her little patronising manner. Why 
cannot she treat him in the same way that she does Mr. 
Pennington and other young men ? ” But Bride only 
shrugged her shoulders and pursed up her lips, as though 
she could say plenty if she liked. Bride did not in her 
heart care much for Mrs. Warburton, in spite of all her 
flattering little attentions. 

But one afternoon a light was thrown on the subject- 
Elinor and Bride had been invited to tea and croquet at 
the Hall, and Elinor, who was rather a good player, had 
just finished a game with Mr. Milner as her partner. It 
was an unusually warm evening and Elinor felt a little 
tired, so Mr. Milner found her a comfortable seat in a 
shady nook, and threw himself down on the grass beside 
her. They had been good friends from the first, but of 
late Hugh Milner showed a decided preference for her 
society, and would talk to her about his work as though 
he felt sure of her sympathy. She had just been asking 
after Kathleen, and in reply he had handed her a letter 


Nice, Well-Conducted Young People 181 


from his sister which he had received that morning. 
‘‘ There is a very lengthy message in it for you,” he said 
smiling; but as he looked up at her there was a quick 
gleam of admiration in his dark eyes that made Elinor 
take the letter a little hastily. 

Elinor was looking her best that afternoon; the soft 
cloudy grey voile and large picture hat just suited her. 
The mingled gentleness and bright intelligence of her 
expression always charmed people, but this afternoon she 
was more than usually attractive ; Hugh Milner thought 
he had never seen a face which pleased him so well. 

At this moment both of them were conscious of voices 
on the other side of the hedge. Mrs. Warburton was 
talking to an old friend of hers who had come to stay 
with them. She and Mrs. Venables had been school- 
fellows. She was a delightful old lady but rather deaf, 
this compelled Mrs. Warburton to speak rather loudly. 

‘'A distinguished young man? I am sure I do not 
know of whom you are speaking, Gertrude. Edgar Pen- 
nington is not at all good-looking, and Captain Morley is 
not here, — ^besides, he is red-haired.” 

'' But the young man I mean is very dark,” returned 
Mrs. Venables, and he is extremely handsome, and his 
features are clear-cut.” 

Oh, that must be our clever young architect, Mr. 
Milner, who is repairing the church,” replied Mrs. War- 
burton rather coldly. Gale thinks so much of him — he 
will have it that he has great talent — and he has asked 
me to show him a little attention. He lives with the 
Keiths at the Crow Farm. He and his sister are very 
nice, well-conducted young people, but their father is 
only a teacher of music, and of course ” 

Shall we walk on — I am quite rested now,” observed 
Elinor; but she did not look at Hugh as she spoke. 
Something in Mrs. Warburton’s bland explanation made 
her feel hot and uncomfortable. But before she could 
recover herself, Hugh’s voice broke the awkward silence. 

Listeners seldom hear any good of themselves. Miss 
Gresham ; but it is a blessing to know that Kathleen and 

I are nice, well-conducted young people -if our hostess 

had only added that we were quite respectable ! ” and the 


182 


No Friend Like a Sister 


young man gave a mirthless little laugh which jarred on 
Elinor's nerves. 

“ Oh, it was too bad ! " she returned indignantly. It 
was not so much Mrs. Warburton's words as her tone 
which was so galling. But do not think any more of 
it. She is excessively proud, and gives her tongue too 
much license; I have often heard her say things to her 
daughter which made me feel inwardly angry." 

‘‘ Mrs. Warburton is not prouder than I am," returned 
Hugh in a hurt voice ; besides, she has every right to 
tell the truth to her friends, and I am a fool to mind it. 
It is absolute truth that my father teaches music; but 

if you could see him " and here some strong feeling 

checked his speech. 

‘‘ I hope to have the pleasure of seeing him some day," 
returned Elinor quietly, and her voice was so sweet and 
sympathetic that the young man's wounded feelings were 
mollified. 

‘‘ Thank you — you are very kind," he said simply, and 
the cloud vanished from his brow. ‘‘ Shall we sit down 
here? As there is no hedge, we need not be afraid of 
eavesdropping, and there is something I meant to tell 
you." Then Elinor at once seated herself. 

‘‘ I had a letter from my dear old dad yesterday," he 
continued. '' He quite hopes to spend his vacation at 
Tylcote, and Kathleen will come with him; they will be 
here all August." 

Elinor looked pleased. That is indeed good news. 
How delightful for you to have your father and sister 
together." 

‘‘ It will be his first visit," replied Hugh, and he does 
so love the country ; he will be like a child out of school. 
Mrs. Keith and I have been discussing matters; I shall 
give up my own quarters to them, and find a room in 
the village." 

Why should not Kathleen come to us, Mr. Milner? " 
asked Elinor kindly. ‘‘ It is true that I am hoping to have 
my sister Frances in August, but we have two spare 
rooms." 

‘‘ You are very good," he returned gratefully, and 
Kathleen will be much touched by your invitation; but 


Nice, Well-Conducted Young People 183 

I think it would be better for her to remain at Crow 
Farm. You see, I shall be much taken up with business, 
and we should neither of us like to leave father alone. 
It is his only holiday in the year, and we want him to 
enjoy it thoroughly.” 

Then Elinor assured him that she perfectly understood 
him. In reality, it was only kindness of heart that had 
prompted her to give the invitation, for she would much 
rather have no other visitor while Frances was with her. 
Frances quite hoped to spend the whole of August at 
Wildcroft. Things were in such excellent working order, 
and she had such an efficient staff, that she thought that 
she might safely take a good holiday. 

Hugh seemed to have forgotten the painful little 
episode by this time; he began talking about his father. 
‘‘ I think he is the kindest-hearted and most unselfish man 
I have ever known,” he observed, ‘‘ I never heard him 
say a harsh or uncharitable word in my life; and he is 
generous to a fault, he would give the coat off his back 
if he thought another man wanted it. Kathleen and I 
have to look pretty sharply after him, for he is so simple 
that he will believe any plausible story.” 

Elinor smiled; she thought Hugh’s father must have 
a very lovable nature, and hardly wondered that his 
children were so devoted to him. 

What selfish little brats children are,” went on Hugh, 
‘‘ they take everything as a matter of course. It never 
entered my head that I had any special reason for feeling 
grateful because my father was good to me; it is only 
since I have grown up and come to man’s estate that I 
realise the sacrifice he must have made to give me so good 
an education. When I think of the difficulty he must 
have had with his small means, I feel that nothing I can 
do in return will ever adequately repay him.” 

“ Parents do not expect to be repaid,” observed Elinor. 

‘‘ I was once thoughtless enough to express my regret 
in his presence that it had been impossible for him to 
send me to a public school, and I cannot forgive myself 
even now for the pain that remark caused him. ‘ I did 
my best for you, Hughie lad,’ he said so sadly ; ‘ but, as 
your mother knew, such a thing was not in my power.’ ” 


184 


No Friend Like a Sister 


I should not remember that speech, Mr. Milner ; one 
sometimes says a thoughtless word, which one repents 
as soon as it is uttered.'’ 

‘‘Ah, but he has never forgotten it, neither have 1. And 
do you know, Miss Gresham, at times the old regret crops 
up afresh. When I hear my clerical friends talking about 
their schools — Mr. Morrell is an old Etonian, and Mr. 
Warburton was at Harrow, and Mr. Monkton at Rugby — 
when two of them get together they are always back in 
old playing fields. ‘It was when I was prefect we had 
the best team for football,' and so on. All their interests 
and friendships seem to date from their school or college 
days. A day-boarder at a private school is rather out 
of it." Then Elinor regarded the young man very kindly. 

“ I know so well how you feel about it," she said gently. 
“ My brother Lyall was at Harrow, and he always says 
his school-days were the happiest time of his life, and 
that his most lasting friendships were formed there ; but 
he had plenty of friends at Lincoln. One can understand 
how much you have missed." 

“ It only proves what an important factor in life money 
can be," returned Hugh, “ since the want of it has pre- 
vented my enjoying other boys' advantages." But Elinor 
interrupted him. 

“ That is true ; but at the same time I expect your 
severer training taught you self-reliance, and you worked 
all the harder because you knew that you had to depend 
on your own exertions. Oh, there comes my sister-in- 
law ; she evidently thinks I am lost." But they both rose 
a little reluctantly. 

The conversation had interested Elinor deeply. Hugh 
Milner had never been so unreserved with her before; 
she felt that she understood him better than she had 
ever done before. He was proud and thin-skinned to 
a fault, but his nature was essentially manly, and he 
was very warm-hearted. There had been something 
winsome and boyish in the way he had expressed his 
contrition for his thoughtless words. Altogether Elinor 
had thoroughly enjoyed her talk, but some instinct made 
her forbear to repeat Mrs. Warburton's speech to Bride. 
“ Mr. Milner and I had a long talk," she said, as they 


Nice, Well-Conducted Young People 185 


drove back in the coolness of the evening ; he tells me 
that his father and Kathleen are coming to Crow Farm 
for August/’ and this piece of news seemed very welcome 
to Bride. 

Elinor’s acquaintance with the vicar of Tylcote had 
not made much progress ; she saw him frequently, and 
he was always very civil and pleasant in his manner, 
but after a long conversation which had taken place 
between them in the garden of Dewhurst, he had rather 
retired into his shell again. 

On that occasion he had come up to her and rather 
abruptly announced his intention of resuming the argu- 
ment about the duties of a parish priest, and the advan- 
tages or disadvantages of indiscriminate house-to-house 
visitation. Elinor, who knew that she had a dangerous 
adversary, would willingly have shirked the discussion, 
but Mr. Warburton was peremptory. 

There was nothing for it but to stand up for her colours 
manfully and fight her best ; but in the heat of the argu- 
ment she said a little more than she intended ; but, as she 
told Frances afterwards, the vicar had been so aggressive 
and overbearing and seemed so determined to make her 
speak, that it was impossible to take refuge in silence. 
‘‘ It will be my own fault if I ever let myself be drawn 
into a discussion with him again,” she observed. He 
really was excessively provoking, and his cool, satirical 
manner was so exasperating ; but I had my say, and told 
him Lyall’s opinion on the subject, and then I left him 
to have the last word; but though the conversation took 
place three weeks ago, I can see he has not forgiven me.” 

Elinor had gone up to St. Monica’s Lodge for a week- 
end, and she and Frances were enjoying one of their old 
confabs in the Sister’s room. 

I suppose Mr. Warburton was not pleased when he 
found that he could not convert you to his opinion ? ” 

“ Yes, I am afraid he thought me very obstinate and 
illogical, only he was too polite to say so; but just at the 
last he gave me rather a withering glance. 

"All women talk alike,’ he observed ; " they let feeling 
guide them, they never argue out a thing on a calm, 
reasonable basis. Well, Miss Gresham, you know the 


186 


No Friend Like a Sister 


old saying, ‘‘A man convinced against his will, is but an 
unbeliever still/' and with all respect for your brother's 
opinion, I am afraid I still maintain my own.' And 
then he gave a dry little laugh, and just then Agnes 
brought him a message from her mother and he left me. 
I could not help feeling a little injured, for he had forced 
the discussion on me, and had no right to be offended 
because I told him the truth." And Frances had fully 
agreed with her. 

The whole thing had made Elinor feel a little uncom- 
fortable. Though the vicar was always civil to her, he 
seldom showed any desire to converse with her ; but more 
than once, when she was talking to his mother on some 
subject that interested her, he seemed taking quiet stock 
of her words. 

I wonder why Mr. Warburton watches you so, Nora," 
Bride once said. The other evening, when we dined 
at the Hall, and you were talking to Mr. Morrell about 
Lyall's passion for mission work, I saw him shaking 
his head and looking at you in such an odd way, rather 
like Fluff our old owl, when he wanted to pounce on 
that little rabbit." 

‘‘ Bride, how can you be so ridiculous ! " returned 
Elinor calmly. But she had been quite aware that the 
conversation had not pleased Mr. Warburton; he had 
been very silent that evening, and as soon as possible had 
carried off Mr. Morrell to his study. We have those 
plans to look over before Milner comes round in the morn- 
ing," he had said to him ; and though Mrs. Warburton 
had scolded him for breaking up the party, she had spoken 
to deaf ears, and the ladies had to amuse themselves for 
the remainder of the evening. 


XXIII 


Gad’s Barn 


We’ll keep our aims sublime, our eyes erect, 

Although our women-hands should shake and fail. 

Browning. 

I’ll bind myself to that which once being right, 

Will not be less right when I shrink from it. 

Kingsley. 

During Elinor’s brief stay at St. Monica’s Lodge she 
and Frances had called at Grove House. Augusta had 
received them very graciously, and her manner to Elinor 
was more affectionate than usual. She insisted on their 
remaining to tea, and told Perry not to admit any visitor 
while her sisters were with her. She asked after Bride, 
and seemed interested in all that Elinor told her about 
their life at Meadow Thorpe ; she even promised to come 
down for a couple of days before she left town. Bride 
made a naughty little grimace when Elinor gave her this 
latter item of news. 

Augusta had made all her plans, and seemed in excel- 
lent spirits — evidently solitude suited her. In July she 
intended joining some friends in a trip to Norway, and 
seemed to be looking forward to it with much pleasure. 
Frances told Elinor afterwards that she was certain that 
Sir Ralph Peyton would be one of the party. It was 
true that his name had not been mentioned amongst the 
other people, but something in Augusta’s manner con- 
vinced her that he would not be far off. 

Augusta did not expect to return to the Boltons until 
early in September, and then she would be busy breaking 
up her household and preparing for her Eastern journey. 
She and Mrs. Oscar Nugent fully intended carrying out 
their long-cherished plan. They would start for India 
in October, and be probably absent from England six or 

187 


188 


No Friend Like a Sister 


eight months ; both of them having set their hearts on 
seeing Japan; and it was possible that they might extend 
their visit a little. 

As Lyall did not wish Grove House to be dismantled, 
and would prefer things to remain as they were until 
his return in April, Augusta intended to leave it in 
charge of an old servant. She and her husband were 
thoroughly reliable people, and any member of the family 
desiring a day or two’s accommodation could always 
have a room ready for them. Mrs. Huntley was a 
good cook, and as her husband had been a butler, he 
was quite capable of table service, although his health 
would not allow him to remain in service or to do any 
continuous work. 

Elinor thought this an excellent arrangement ; it would 
be a great convenience to her and Bride when they came 
up for their Christmas shopping. It would be a pleasant 
change for them to spend a week or two in town, and they 
could easily bring Rachel up with them to assist Mrs. 
Huntley. 

Augusta paid her promised visit to Wildcroft towards 
the end of June, and she actually remained three days ; and 
Elinor, and even Bride, was surprised to find how well it 
passed off. Augusta could always make herself charming 
if she liked, and on this occasion she laid herself out to 
be agreeable. She thought the house extremely com- 
fortable, and seemed struck with the beauty of the view, 
though she could not disguise from them that the intense 
stillness and isolation almost appalled her. 

I could not endure it for three weeks,” she said after- 
wards to Frances. ‘‘At night the thought of that little 
churchyard seemed to get on my nerves. I used to won- 
der at Bride and Nora. They seemed to think it bliss to 
wander over those big meadows, hatless and without a 
sunshade. One evening they wanted some new-laid eggs, 
and they took me to some farm a little way out. Bride 
was bare-headed as usual. I never was so tired in my 
life — walking on those rough field-paths ; and there was 
Bride positively running like a little school-girl, with all 
the dogs after her. I don’t believe Lyall would have 
known his wife if he had seen her.” 


Gad’s Barn 


189 


Augusta was better pleased when they drove her over 
to Tylcote Hall. The Warburtons seemed to impress her 
most favourably. Elinor felt rather proud of her sister 
that day. Augusta was undeniably handsome, and she 
was always well-dressed, and then she had such good 
manners, and Mrs. Warburton seemed immensely struck 
with her, and even Mr. Warburton showed her a great 
deal of attention. 

I wonder your sister has never married,’’ observed 
Mrs. Warburton to Elinor, as Augusta and the vicar came 
slowly up the avenue towards them — he had taken her 
to see the church. ‘‘ She is exceedingly good-looking, 
and must have been greatly admired in her youth.” And 
Elinor quietly assented to this. 

'' I do not think she will marry now,” was all she said. 

I think Mrs. Warburton and her son delightful peo- 
ple,” observed Augusta graciously, as they drove down 
the village; ''but Miss Warburton seems to me rather a 
colourless sort of young woman. I can’t say I took to 
her much.” 

" Oh, Gussie, she is such a friend of Nora’s,” exclaimed 
Bride. " We are both so fond of Agnes, and she is really 
a dear creature. Oh, there is Mr. Milner coming out of 
the Perrins’, Nora. Why don’t you stop to speak to 
him ? ” for Elinor was driving that day. But she shook 
her head; and Hugh Milner only lifted his hat with a 
pleasant " Good evening” as they passed him. 

Augusta looked at him rather curiously. " Who is 
Mr. Milner ? ” she asked. And Elinor coloured slightly 
as she explained. "He is a very good-looking young 
man,” returned Augusta; but her interest had cooled a 
little, and she asked no more questions. 

Augusta’s visit had been a great success ; nevertheless, 
Elinor was sensible of something like relief when she 
waved her good-bye from Masked Station. There had 
been no jarring word from first to last. Augusta had 
been perfectly kind, agreeable, and conciliatory ; and yet 
Elinor had been conscious of a sense of effort on her own 
part, and she was surprised to find that Bride shared this 
feeling. 

" Haven’t I been a good little girl ? ” were Bride’s first 


190 


No Friend Like a Sister 


words when Elinor joined her under the sycamore. 

Gussie has been quite decent these three days ; but oh, 
Nora, it is just lovely to be by our own two selves again. 
I feel like Patience Deans — ‘I am properly tired.’ ” And 
though Elinor laughed in an amused way, she owned 
afterwards that she was properly tired too. 

About a week after Augusta’s visit Bride announced 
her intention of going over to Crow Farm. Elinor tried 
in vain to dissuade her. It was a close, thundery after- 
noon, and hardly fit weather for bicycling; but Bride 
persisted in her resolution, so Elinor said no more. Bride 
often had a restless fit when she had received one of 
Lyall’s letters, and any electricity in the air seemed to 
set her nerves on edge. Elinor knew that a thunder- 
storm always alarmed her, so she had good reasons for 
advising her to remain at home; but when Bride was in 
one of her contrary moods she was apt to disregard 
any wise counsel, being rather a perverse young person. 

I wonder what dear old Lyall has written to vex 
her ? ” Elinor said to herself ; for, contrary to her usual 
custom, Bride had not shown her the letter. Perhaps 
he has said something about April, and that has upset 
her ; for I am sure she is dreading his coming home, and 
yet sometimes I fancy that she longs to see him. Well, 
as Frances says, they are an oddly-matched pair, and must 
fight out their own battle.” 

Elinor never bore a grudge against people when they 
refused to take her advice, so she walked to the gate to 
see Bride start. Of course I think you a little goose,” 
she said tolerantly. ‘‘ You had better go very slowly, 
unless you want to work yourself into a fever. Perhaps, 
if it gets cooler in the evening and the storm passes off, I 
may come a little way to meet you.” 

Don’t trouble about me,” returned Bride quickly. 
“ If there is a storm I shall certainly stay at Crow Farm 
until it is over ; nothing would induce me to be out in it 
alone. But Joe says he reckons that I need not be anx- 
ious, for he thinks it will all blow over.” And then 
Bride rode off. 

Elinor had letters to write. Then she ensconced her- 
self in a hammock-chair under the elm tree, and set 


.Gad’s Bam 


191 


herself to finish her book ; and it absorbed her so entirely 
that she quite started when the Grandfather’s clock in 
the hall chimed six. 

Bride would soon be starting on her return journey, 
and if she wished to meet her it would be well to put on 
her hat. She rose hastily and summoned the dogs ; then 
she looked a little dubiously at the sky. 

It still looked somewhat unpromising, and there was a 
feeling of heaviness in the atmosphere. Elinor was 
convinced that a storm was brewing, though it might 
not break before night. She left word with Patience 
that the mare was to be brought into her stable, for Meg 
had plenty of liberty given to her, and often wandered 
at her sweet will over the Croft meadows. 

No, it was not the weather for walking, she thought; 
and Rufus and Scrap evidently shared this opinion, for 
they kept close beside her, and showed no intention of 
quickening their pace. ‘‘ I shall not go far. Scrap,” she 
said, as the little animal looked up at her in a beseeching 
way, and if it rains I will promise to carry you.” For 
Scrap was a spoiled doggie, and she hated discomfort of 
any sort — being a very dainty and self-indulgent little 
person. 

Elinor picked her up presently, and then she was more 
content. Elinor’s thoughts were busy with August plans. 
She wanted Frances to have a real holiday. The garden 
had been so utterly neglected that it was impossible to get 
the croquet lawn in order this year, so she had no enter- 
tainment to offer her friends ; ‘‘ but she could ask a few 
nice people each week, and give them tea on the lawn, 
people always enjoyed that.” Frances christened them 
afterwards ‘'Sycamore Teas.” 

Elinor was so occupied by these pleasant thoughts that 
she was quite unaware that she was more than half- 
way to Tylcote, until an ominous drop of rain wetted 
her cheek, which was immediately followed by another, 
and roused her to the fact that a heavy thunder-shower 
was threatening her. Elinor was sufficiently town- 
bred to dread a wetting, and she immediately looked 
round for a place of refuge. To her relief it was close 
at hand. 


192 


No Friend Like a Sister 


She had just reached a corner of the road where a little 
blind lane led to some farm buildings. Here there was a 
disused rickyard with an old barn, which from age and 
want of repair was almost a ruin. The place had a bad 
name, ever since a man had hanged himself there, and 
not the boldest and the most courageous of the farm- 
helpers would have ventured near Gad's Barn after dark. 

Elinor had heard the story, but as it was daylight she 
did not hesitate to seek shelter there. She was far more 
afraid of tramps than ghosts, but she knew that Rufus 
would allow no one to molest her; when Rufus showed 
his teeth, the most audacious beggar would have shuffled 
off in alarm. 

Elinor had no time to lose, for each moment the drops 
fell faster. The gate had been torn from its hinges and 
lay on the ground, and the yard itself was full of useless 
lumber — disused cart-wheels, broken axle-poles, old tin 
cans with their sides battered in, broken flower-pots, 
rabbit-skins, and other miscellaneous rubbish — through 
which she picked her way somewhat gingerly. The door 
of the barn had long since been used for firewood, and 
part of the outer wall had a wide gap in it, but a pile of 
brushwood filled up the aperture. Elinor entered so hur- 
riedly that she did not for a moment perceive that two 
other people had taken shelter there also. The barn 
was large and the huge piles of brushwood shut out 
the light; but Rufus, whose scent was never at fault, 
suddenly uttered a short bark of delighted welcome — 
he had recognised some friends. The next moment a 
man's figure started up from a dim corner and came 
forward. To Elinor's intense surprise, it was Hammond 
Keith. Yes, and surely she knew that grey dress? 
But if it were Agnes, she could not see her face, for 
she had turned her head aside, and Elinor felt sure she 
was crying. 

Oh, I am so sorry to have startled you ! " she ex- 
claimed ; but it is raining so fast." Elinor spoke a little 
nervously, for she was afraid that she had intruded at an 
awkward moment. Something had evidently happened. 
Hammond Keith did not look like himself; he was very 
pale, and his expression was set and stern, and there was 


Gad’s Barn 


193 


an angry light in his blue eyes, that made him look more 
like a Viking than ever. 

I wanted to meet my sister-in-law — she has been 
spending the afternoon at Crow Farm,’’ she continued 
hurriedly, for she thought it better to take no notice of 
Agnes, but to give her time to recover herself ; but now 
I am afraid we shall miss each other.” 

‘‘ I will go out and look for her,” returned Hammond. 

Oh, no, it is raining so fast — why should I interrupt 
you and Miss Warburton? ” Elinor hardly knew what to 
say ; Mr. Keith’s manner was so strange that she felt more 
uncomfortable every minute. 

We have finished our talk — I was just going,” he said 
rather shortly ; so I may as well look for Mrs. Gresham 
and send her to you here. Good-afternoon, Miss War- 
burton ; the rain will not last long, I believe it is only a 
thunder-shower.” And then he walked out, kicking aside 
the lumber that lay in his path in rather an impatient 
way. 

Oh, Elinor, dear Elinor, do call him back ! ” ex- 
claimed Agnes excitedly. I cannot let him go like this ; 
he is so angry with me, and I cannot bear it. But no ” — 
checking herself with a faint sob — it would be no use, 
he would not come back.” 

Elinor felt shocked. Agnes’s fair face was swollen 
with weeping, and as far as any one so gentle could be, 
she seemed almost distraught. She was trembling from 
head to foot with some uncontrollable emotion. Elinor 
sat down beside her on the heap of brushwood and put 
her arm round her. 

'' Dear Agnes, do not cry so ; you are making yourself 
ill, and how are you to go home in this state ? ” Elinor 
said this purposely, for she wanted to rouse her, for there 
was something hysterical in her agitation. 

Gale will not notice,” she returned, but she was evi- 
dently trying to control herself. “ Mother is away, and 
will not be back until to-morrow night.” • Elinor felt some- 
what relieved when she heard that. 

“Agnes dearest,” she said very tenderly, “ would you 
like me to come to you to-morrow, and then we can have 
a long talk about this trouble ? I have long felt that there 

13 


194 


No Friend Like a Sister 


is something between you and Mr. Keith, though I do not 
pretend to understand it.’’ But Agnes’s answer a little 
surprised her, it was so frank and straightforward. 

'' It is very simple, Elinor ; but I hope the truth will 
not shock you. Hammond Keith has asked me to marry 
him three times, and three times I have refused him ; and 
now he says he is disappointed in me, and that he will 
never ask me again, — and I want him so ! ” And Agnes 
began to sob again in the same hopeless way. 

“ Hush, dear — there is one other question I want to 
ask, and Bride will be here directly. Why did you refuse 
Mr. Keith if you really loved him? ” Then Agnes looked 
at her in astonishment. 

Have I no sense of duty ! Nora, surely you have not 
forgotten mother. Neither she nor Gale would tolerate 
such a marriage. They would say I was a disgrace to 
the Warburtons — that Hammond Keith is not a gentle- 
man.” 

'' Then they are wrong,” returned Elinor indignantly, 
'' for a finer and truer gentleman never walked God’s 
earth.” And as Agnes looked at her as though she were 
unable to believe her ears, she continued hastily, But 
we must not talk any more, for I am sure I hear Bride’s 
voice in the lane. I will drive over to the Hall quite early 
and you shall tell me everything. I want to help you if 
I can, my poor dear, and perhaps it may comfort you to 
talk it all out.” 

'' Nora,” exclaimed Bride’s voice outside, where have 
you hidden yourself? The rain has stopped, and Mr. 
Keith says we must hurry home, as it will come down 
again.” 

Go — go to her,” whispered Agnes ; '' I would not 
have her see me for the world. I shall go home too, for 
I dare not stay here alone; and I shall see you to-mor- 
row.” And then Elinor joined Bride. 

‘‘ What a time you have been, and why did you not 
answer when I called ? ” And Bride glanced at her rather 
inquisitively. '' You look as though you have seen a 
ghost, Nora. They say that Josiah Gad still walks on 
summer nights. I don’t know what is the matter with 
everybody this evening,” she continued, as Elinor re- 


Gad’s Barn 


195 


mained silent. ‘‘ Mrs. Keith is worried and has a head- 
ache ; she says that it always aches when there is thunder 
in the air. And Mr. Keith looks as though he had swal- 
lowed a poker, and it had disagreed with him.’’ 

Bride, how can you say such absurd things ! ” But 
Elinor did not answer as brightly as usual. Happily 
Bride was too busy talking herself to notice her lack of 
response. The little change had done her good, and she 
had recovered her spirits. She had been helping Mrs. 
Keith with her patchwork quilt. '' It will be quite beau- 
tiful when it is finished,” observed Bride enthusiastically ; 
‘‘ and I am going to write to Miss Felkin and ask her to 
send me any little snippets of silk and satin that she can 
spare.” 


XXIV 


“You Do Not Know Mother” 


Sincerity, a deep, great, genuine Sincerity, is the first charac- 
teristic of all men in any way heroic. — Carlyle. 

Is there no stoning save with flint and rock? 

Tennyson. 

Elinor was tired and indisposed for talk that evening, 
so after supper she begged Bride to sing to her, while 
she rested in the easy-chair beside the little side-window 
overlooking the lime walk leading to the ruined church- 
yard. It was a wet evening, and the splash of raindrops 
was audible every now and then. The two candles Bride 
had lighted only irradiated the space round the piano, 
the rest of the room was in shadow. Elinor was glad of 
the soft dimness. Now and then she closed her eyes, as 
Bride’s rich deep tone broke on her ear, but more than 
once she opened them with a start as the little scene in 
Gad’s Barn came again before her — Agnes’s agonised 
face and the look of stern repression and suffering on 
Hammond Keith’s. She had sent him away, although she 
loved him. Even now, she could hear the sad, vibrating 
tones of Agnes’s voice, when she had ventured to ask 
her the reason. Have I no sense of duty ! Nora, surely 
you have not forgotten mother.” Ah, here lay the diffi- 
culty, and Elinor sighed as she thought the path of duty 
might be a thorny one for Agnes. 

'' I had better put it all out of my mind until to- 
morrow,” she said to herself, for how am I to judge 
until I know more? It would be a difficult position for 
any woman, but for Agnes it must be sheer martyrdom.” 

Bride looked somewhat surprised when Elinor an- 
nounced her intention the next morning of driving over to 
the Hall. I hear Mrs. Warburton is away, and I shall 
be rather glad to get Agnes to myself for an hour or 


You Do Not Know Mother 


197 


two/’ she observed with such well-assumed carelessness 
that Bride suspected nothing. 

“ Why don’t you bring her back to luncheon ? ” re- 
turned Bride cheerfully, “ and then we could have a nice 
afternoon together.” But Elinor hesitated. 

'' I was thinking of remaining there to luncheon,” she 
returned. “ Suppose we leave it open. Bride. You might 
turn your morning to account by having a good long 
practice and writing to Frances; it is quite three weeks 
since you sent her a line, she told me in her last letter 
that you were getting dreadfully lazy.” 

‘‘ Well, I shall see,” returned Bride dubiously. My 
workshop wants tidying, and I might spend a profitable 
morning putting things tidy ; and if you really prefer to 
remain to luncheon at the Hall, I will write to Frances in 
the afternoon.” And this programme was fully approved 
by Elinor. Bride would not miss her if she were busy, 
and she would be free to devote herself to Agnes. She 
would start quite early so as to ensure a long morning 
without interruption. 

On her arrival at the Hall, she found Agnes in a little 
upstairs sitting-room which Mrs. Warburton had given 
her for her own use. It was very small and not at all 
well furnished^ as odds and ends from other rooms had 
found their way there, but Agnes did not find fault with it. 
It overlooked the pleasant kitchen garden and one of the 
side lawns, and she could keep her canary and her books 
there ; and she liked to sew by the open window and listen 
to the doves cooing in the trees. Agnes was looking 
white and ill, Elinor thought, but she had recovered 
herself a little, and as she kissed her friend with her 
wonted affection, she said in a low voice, Oh, Elinor, 
what must you have thought of me yesterday ! ” 

That is a question that need never be asked between 
you and me,” returned Elinor with assumed cheerfulness ; 

you may be sure that I never think anything but good 
of you under any circumstances. Now, would you like 
me to take off my hat? I am quite willing to stay as 
long as you would like to keep me.” Then a little smile 
crossed Agnes’s worn face; she had slept little, and the 
long wakeful hours had been full of concentrated misery. 


198 


No Friend Like a Sister 


and now Elinor’s kind face brought her some degree of 
comfort. 

Oh, yes — please stay,” was her reply. Gale will be 
glad to have some one to whom he can talk during 
luncheon, and I do not expect that mother will be back 
until nearly eight.” Then Elinor needed no further in- 
vitation. A few minutes later they were comfortably 
settled. 

'‘And now you are going to tell me all that I want to 
know,” she began softly. Agnes had taken up her work, 
but it dropped from her hands when Elinor said this. 

"You mean about Mr. Keith?” 

" Yes, about him and yourself — and everything you 
care to tell me,” replied Elinor. " I want to understand 
how such a thing can have happened. Perhaps if I know 
everything from the beginning, I might be able to help 
you.” But Agnes shook her head. 

" It is not in human power to help me, I fear. But I 
know how good you are, and I feel I can trust you. Once 
or twice lately I have tried to speak to you about him, but 
I could never bring myself to say the words. Elinor, 
you know what a lonely life I lead.” 

" I know it well, dear.” 

" I have sometimes wondered why I was brought into 
the world, for there seems no place for me anywhere. I 
have this lovely home, but it is not really a home to me — 
neither mother nor Gale need me.” 

" You must not say that.” 

" Why should I not say it if it be true,” returned Agnes 
sadly. " Oh, I know that they do not mean to be unkind, 
or to hurt my feelings. But just think what it means to 
me, Elinor, to live here under Gale’s roof, and to feel that 
I am nothing to him — ^that if anything happened to me I 
should hardly be missed.” 

" I am sorry to hear you say this of your brother,” 
replied Elinor rather gravely. She wondered if Agnes 
was not taking a morbid view of things. 

" It has been so all my life,” she went on ; " we have 
not a thought in common. Gale is very different from 
other men, and only mother understands him — those two 
are everything to each other.” 


You Do Not Know Mother 


199 


'' And you are left out in the cold ? '' 

‘‘ Yes” with a tired sigh. You see, I am not clever, 
and if I ever venture to assert my opinion, Gale looks 
surprised, and mother takes me to task for interfering in 
a matter that I do not understand. Neither of them ever 
takes the trouble to explain things to me. Don’t look so 
indignant, Elinor. Mother really means to be kind, but 
she is so quick and clever herself that she gets impatient 
with my slowness. I think,” continued Agnes, with 
simple pathos, ‘‘ if they had been more patient with me 
and made me happier, I should have got on better.” 

Elinor was silent, she could not trust herself to speak. 
No, there might be no active unkindness, but years of 
repression and heart-loneliness had robbed Agnes of her 
youth. She was like some delicate musical instrument 
left out to the mercy of the weather — some of the sweetest 
notes were dumb or jangled. 

I used to be so unhappy,” went on Agnes, and then 
it was that I began going to Crow Earm. Mother seldom 
asked me where I had been, and she never seemed to 
object when I told her I had been with Mrs. Keith. She 
would shrug her shoulders and say sometimes 'there was 
no accounting for tastes,’ and she would wonder what I 
could see in that good woman, but she never tried to put 
a stop to my visits. 

" I am afraid, Elinor ” — in a low voice — " that she had 
no idea how often I went in those days. Mrs. Keith 
was my chief comfort. I cannot tell you how good she 
was to me.” 

" Bride has taken a great fancy to her — she always 
says she has such a big heart,” observed Elinor. 

" Yes, indeed. When I was with her I used to realise 
what a mother should be. It was beautiful to see her 
with her son. Just fancy, Elinor, though those two are 
so happy together, Mrs. Keith has never got over the 
death of her only daughter. Nellie was only a child when 
she died, about six or seven, I believe, but Hammond — 
Mr. Keith, I mean — tells me not a day passes without 
his mother talking about Nellie.” 

" She has spoken of her once or twice to Bride. She 
opened a drawer once and showed her a pile of little 


200 


No Friend Like a Sister 


frocks belonging to Nellie. There was a doll and a doll’s 
tea-set as well.'' 

Yes, I know," returned Agnes, '' she has often told 
me that she never could bring herself to part with Nellie's 
things. ‘ It was a heavy cross,' she once said, ‘ when the 
Good Shepherd took my Lammie home, but I know Nellie 
is safe. But, Miss Agnes my dear, it was cruel hard for 
I always did so long for a daughter to fend for me when 
I got old. But there, I ought not to complain when my 
Ham is such a good son.’ " 

Agnes seemed losing herself in these pathetic recollec- 
tions, but Elinor recalled her to the point. 

Of course, during these frequent visits at Crow Farm, 
you were often in Mr. Keith's company?" Then a little 
flush came to Agnes's cheek. 

Yes, but I was seldom alone with him. He would 
come in and out and say a word or two, but if he were 
busy he would only stay a moment. He used to think 
himself in the way, but after a time we began to know 
each other better. He used to talk quite freely to me, 
and I would get Gale to lend him books, because he was 
so fond of reading." 

'' That was kind of you." 

It was nothing to what he did for me," returned 
Agnes. He found out that I was not happy at home — I 
suppose his mother told him — and he was always thinking 
of little things to please me. He would bring me such 
beautiful flowers — rare hot-house flowers — and that little 
canary was his gift. He told me once that I ought to 
have a bird, and next time I saw him he came into the 
room with a bird-cage in his hand. ‘ I know a man in 
Leicester who breeds canaries,’ he said, ‘ and I took a 
fancy to this knowing little fellow. Isn’t he like a ball 
of gold? He is quite young and you can tame him 
easily.’ ’’ And as though to verify these words, Agnes 
put her face to the cage, and the canary flew down from 
his perch and pecked at her lovingly. Sometimes he 
takes hemp-seed from my lips," she went on, and when 
I open his cage he will often fly straight to me and perch 
on my shoulder. Goldie is such a dear little companion 
to me." 


You Do Not Know Mother 


201 


‘‘ Agnes dear/’ observed Elinor quietly, did you 
never suspect that Mr. Keith was falling in love with 
you ? ” 

‘‘ Never,” returned Agnes with such an air of sincerity 
that Elinor could not doubt her. Such a thought never 
entered my head. He just seemed a kind good friend. 
I used to be so happy talking to him and Mrs. Keith. 
It was always so homely and comfortable and cheerful 
at Crow Farm. The atmosphere suited me perfectly, no 
one seemed to expect me to say clever things, or found 
fault with my denseness and slowness. I never felt in 
the way with either of them. And then one day I had a 
shock, and everything was spoilt.” 

Elinor drew a long breath. Agnes was coming to the 
point now. 

I had been detained at Crow Farm by a heavy storm, 
and Mrs. Keith was very busy and had been obliged to 
leave me. I was unusually low that day. Mother had 
been finding fault with me and had said things which 
were hard to bear, and I was just thinking of them and 
trying to keep the tears back, when Mr. Keith came in. 
He seemed surprised to see me, but his face lighted up 
as though he were pleased; but the next minute his 
manner changed, and he sat down beside me and asked 
me to tell him what grieved me. His tone was so kind 
that I could not help crying; but he made me tell him 
everything. And then — and then — oh, Elinor, can you 
conceive my feelings, he suddenly turned to me and a.sked 
me to marry him. I was so frightened that I absolutely 
could not speak. 

‘ You need not answer me now,’ he said, " for I see 
my abruptness has given you a shock. I never meant to 
have said this to you, though I have loved you as a man 
can only love once in his life. I think it has grown out 
of pity and the longing I had to make your life happier.’ 

“ Elinor, I wanted to silence him, but he was not to 
be repressed. 

‘‘ He told me that he had cared for me from the first, 
but that he never intended me to know it. ‘What right 
had I, a working farmer, a mere yeoman, to presume to 
love one so much above me ? ’ And then he went on to 


202 


No Friend Like a Sister 


say that it was only my evident unhappiness that gave 
him courage to speak. 

Miss Agnes/ he said, ‘ I know what sort of a life 
you lead at the Hall. It is not life at all — you are just 
eating your heart out with the dulness. Neither your 
mother nor brother really need you. If you could accept 
the love of an honest man, who has never been untrue to 
man or woman in his life, I would work for you, and you 
should never be lonely again/ And then he held out his 
hand to me, but I did not take it — I dare not. I was not 
even sure that I cared for him, except as a friend. You 
see, it had come upon me like a thunder-clap, and I was 
always a little slow. I think he understood how I felt, 
for he looked a little sad and downcast ; and then he said 
in his old kind way that he did not wish to trouble me, 
only he could not take back his words. And then he 
begged me very earnestly to look upon him still as a 
faithful friend, and not to punish his presumption by 
staying away from the farm. I was so thankful when he 
said that for how could I have borne to lose my friend ! ” 
''And then he asked you again to marry him ? '' 

" Yes, but not for a long time — not until nearly a year 
afterwards. I knew that I was beginning to care for him 
too much, but I always hoped that he would not find it 
out. But one day — I was not well, I had had influenza, 
and I was still rather weak — Mrs. Keith asked me to go 
over one afternoon, as she thought the little change would 
do me good. I wish I had not gone, for before I left he 
had spoken to me again.’’ 

"And you could not stop him ? ” 

" Oh no, with all his stubborn temper, he has a very 
strong will. He told me that he was very unhappy about 
me — that I was ill, and that my life was killing me. 'You 
are sacrificing yourself and me too,’ were his words. And 
then ” — here Agnes flushed almost painfully — " he told 
me that he knew, though I would not own it, that I had 
grown to care for him. And, Elinor, I could not deny it. 
I had hard work with him that day, for I was weak and 
he was very masterful.” 

" But he was not angry with you? ” 

" No, he was very gentle with me, but he was firm and 


You Do Not Know Mother 


203 


would have his say ; but we parted friends. Then that 
afternoon at 'The Chimney-Corner’ I was afraid that he 
would find an opportunity to speak to me again. When 
you were all in the meadow, one thing he did say, that he 
had bought the cottage in the hope that I might one day 
consent to live in it; but I made him no answer. And 
then there was yesterday, when his anger nearly broke 
my heart.’’ 

" I am not sure that he had any right to be angry,” 
observed Elinor doubtfully. 

" Oh, but he is of a different opinion. He thinks when 
two people love each other, and there is nothing radically 
wrong on either side, that no power on earth ought to 
separate them. ‘ The choice lies with you and you only,’ 
he said ; ' you are not a young girl, and it is for you to 
decide whether you could be happy as my wife.’ Elinor, 
how was I to deceive him? To be with him in that cot- 
tage, just we two, leading our simple life, and all the rest 
of the world outside, why, it would be Paradise ! What 
was that you said yesterday ? — that he was the finest and 
the truest gentleman that ever lived. How I blessed you 
for those words. And they are true, absolutely true ; if 
it were not so, I could never have loved him.” 

"And yet you had the courage to refuse him? ” 

" Yes, and now he will never ask me again. He says 
that I am breaking his heart as well as my own, and he 
is angry, because he declares I have no right to do it. He 
will not understand that I am trying to do my duty.” 

"Are you sure that, under the circumstances, it is your 
duty, Agnes ? ” Then Agnes fixed her troubled gaze on 
her friend’s face. 

" Hush, don’t tempt me ! Mother would never forgive 
me, or Gale either; they would rather let me suffer all 
my life long than do such a thing. Mother would be hard 
and pitiless. They are both so proud, and how am I to 
fight against them! Gale would be bad enough, but 
mother would be the worst. Oh, you do not know 
mother, Elinor ; when her will is opposed, she can be hard 
like flint, and it is not easy for her to forgive ” — and 
Agnes buried her face in her hands with a long, hopeless 
sigh. 


XXV 


“ Theee Is Always a Way ” 


I only saw how I had missed 
A thousand things from blindness ; 

How all that I had done appeared 
Scarce better than unkindness. 

Faber. 

To be weak is to be miserable, doing or suffering. — Milton. 

At this moment the gong summoned them to luncheon. 
As they entered the dining-room, they found Mr. War- 
burton had taken his usual place, but he was too much 
engrossed with some paper he was reading to be aware 
of their entrance. Agnes paused beside him a moment. 
‘‘ We have a visitor. Gale,” she said rather timidly. Then 
he looked up hastily, and the next moment started up from 
his chair with an apology. Elinor thought he seemed 
pleased to see her, for he shook hands more cordially 
than usual, and during luncheon he made himself ex- 
ceedingly pleasant. 

Once he looked at his sister rather curiously. I am 
afraid you have a headache, Agnes,” he said, and it struck 
Elinor that his tone was kind. And as Agnes quietly 
owned the fact, he advised her to lie down a little. Then 
he turned to their guest. 

I do not know if you propose to drive back this even- 
ing,” he observed courteously, ‘‘ but the carriage will be 
going to Masked Station to meet the 7.10 train for my 
mother, and you could easily be put down at Wildcroft.” 

Many thanks,” returned Elinor, but I told my sis- 
ter-in-law that I should walk back, and I know she intends 
to meet me half-way. I told her that I should probably 
start about half-past five.” 

‘‘ Then in that case I can offer myself as an escort for 
the first mile or so,” he returned, ‘‘ for I have some busi- 


There Is Always a Way 205 

ness at Dewhurst, and as your time just suits me, I shall 
be at your service/’ 

Then Elinor thanked him. She was not sure that the 
prospect of a tete-a-tete walk with the vicar especially 
appealed to her, but she could hardly refuse his civility. 

I think you are rather a favourite with Gale,” ob- 
served Agnes, as they went upstairs together ; '' he seldom 
troubles himself to talk to people unless he is pleased with 
their society, but he can make himself agreeable when 
he likes.” 

Elinor merely smiled at this. She was glad, for 
Agnes’s sake, that her brother should treat her with ci- 
vility; but the more she was brought into contact with 
the master of Tylcote Hall, the less she seemed in touch 
with him. She felt there was nothing in common between 
them. Lately, the quiet watchfulness of his manner had 
slightly embarrassed her. It sometimes appeared to her 
that every word she spoke was silently weighed in the 
balance. Now and then she would dismiss this idea as 
an absurd fancy. I am not so vain as to suppose that 
my words have any importance in the eyes of a man like 
Mr. Warburton,” she would say to herself ; for Elinor 
had no illusions about herself, and was rather humble- 
minded on the subject of her own merits. But the next 
time she looked up and met Gale Warburton’s fixed, in- 
scrutable glance she was conscious of an uneasy feeling. 
'' He is not the sort of man that I understand,” she had 
said in her last letter to Frances, '' and yet I have seen 
all sorts and conditions in my day.” 

They went back to the old subject after this. Elinor 
said little; she felt that it would not be right to offer 
advice on such a subject. Agnes could be sure of her 
sympathy, but the decision must rest with her own con- 
science. At her age it would be hardly possible for her 
to judge amiss. But the very vagueness of this speech 
seemed to confuse Agnes, and she begged, nay, implored 
her to speak more plainly. 

I never was in such need of help,” she said piteously, 
and if you fail me, Elinor ! ” 

'' I shall not fail you, dear,” returned her friend ten- 
derly ; ‘‘ but all the same I dare not take such a responsi- 


206 


No Friend Like a Sister 


bility on myself. The circumstances are so unusual that 
one cannot treat it as an ordinary case. Oh, if I had only 
Frances’ clear head and wise judgment — I am too im- 
pulsive to weigh things calmly and dispassionately. It is 
a terrible thing to go against one’s own people — especially 
one’s mother — and yet ” 

Oh, Elinor, what can you mean ! Surely you are not 
taking Hammond Keith’s part ? ” 

I am taking no one’s part,” she returned hastily, ‘‘ but 
I confess he has my sympathy. You have not meant to 
do wrong, Agnes — your very ignorance of the world has 
made you unconscious — but it seems to me that all these 
years you must have tempted him, — your loneliness and 
unhappiness, and the freedom of your intercourse. Mr. 
Keith is a strong man, but even the strongest man may 
be too sorely tried.” 

'' Oh, Elinor, you are making it out to be all my fault ” 
— Agnes spoke in a wounded tone. 

I would not hurt you if I could help it, dear,” she 
returned, but I think it is only right to say the truth. In 
my opinion you made a grievous mistake in going so 
much to Crow Farm, when you were aware of Mr. 
Keith’s feelings towards you. If you had broken off the 
intimacy then, things would never have come to their 
present pass.” 

Yes — yes, I see you are right,” exclaimed Agnes 
penitently, and the blame lies at my door. But for my 
weakness I should never have betrayed my feeling to 
Hammond, and given him the opportunity of asking me 
again. Oh, if it were only my unhappiness, but to feel 
that I have spoiled his life ! ” 

Elinor was silent. She had determined that nothing 
would induce her to plead Hammond Keith’s cause. 
Since last evening she had hardly had time to make up 
her own mind on the subject. She was the last person in 
the world to encourage a daughter to act in opposition to 
a parent. But, as she had just said to herself, the circum- 
stances were too unusual to allow of it being treated as an 
ordinary case. Agnes was, if not an unloved daughter, 
an unappreciated one ; her life was peculiarly lonely ; her 
nearest relations did not need her; she was wasting all 


There Is Always a Way 


207 


the sweetness and graces of her womanhood in a cold, 
ungenial atmosphere. And now a good, honest, upright 
man had offered her his love and protection, and wished 
to transplant her to a more peaceful environment, and 
she knew how gladly and willingly Agnes would have 
gone with him. There is little doubt she would be 
happy with him,’' Elinor said to herself. “ She is so 
simple in her tastes, and so little would content her. In 
her case, I think — that is, I am almost sure — that I should 
have done it — if — if — I cared for the man.” And there 
was a little flush on Elinor’s cheek. 

Elinor’s silence — a silence that evidently covered strong 
feeling — seemed to trouble Agnes. 

You have made me uncomfortable and now you will 
say no more,” she observed ; '' this is hardly fair. You 
will take no one’s part, you say, neither his nor mine; 
but, at least, you might tell me the right thing to do ! ” 

I tell you ! ” in quite a shocked voice. '' Dear Agnes, 
you are not a child — surely you know that this is for your 
own conscience to decide.” 

But if I cannot decide,” in an agitated voice. Oh, 
do be patient with me a moment. You know my wishes. 
I can never be happy without Hammond, and he 
knows it.” 

‘‘Then why should not your mother know it too ? ” re- 
turned Elinor quietly. “ Why should you not tell her all 
that you are telling me now? Make her understand 
plainly that it is for your happiness to marry Mr. Keith.” 

“ Tell mother all that ! Oh, Elinor, how can you ask 
me to do anything so impossible! Do you suppose she 
would listen? Before the first sentences were spoken, 
she would be crushing me with her scorn and her hard 
speeches. She would tell me I had disgraced myself — 
that I was unworthy to be her daughter and Gale’s sister ; 
and between them both I should have no peace, day or 
night. Oh, you do not know them, Elinor, their pride 
and their hardness. They would never forgive me, un- 
less I promised them faithfully never to speak to him 
again.” 

“ There is no need for you to give such a promise.” 

“ Oh, there is no need for that or for many things. 


208 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Most people would say there is no need for me to lead 
such a narrow, loveless life/’ 

'' I might even bring myself to say that too.” 

There we are of one mind. But all the same I must 
dree my weird. If I were like you or Bride it might be 
different. You are both stronger than I. You would 
neither of you submit tamely to my situation.” 

‘‘Agnes, you know my opinion on this subject. If you 
would assert yourself more, it would be far better. You 
are too submissive and yielding. At your age it is hardly 
right. Your brother has simply no right to dominate 
you as he does.” 

Agnes sighed. “ Gale has been better lately. His 
manner has been far kinder, and he has done little things 
to please me. But you are right. Do you think that I 
do not know, and realise every day, that if I had more 
courage, some way could be found even out of this ? ” 

“ There is always a way,” returned Elinor ; and then 
she hesitated for a moment. “ If you are so afraid of 
your mother, how would it be for Mr. Keith to speak to 
your brother ? ” 

“ To Gale ! Oh, no, that would never do. Gale would 
at once go to my mother — he never does anything without 
her — and they would insult him so. I know just the 
things they would say to him. Gale would be outwardly 
civil, but he would be so cold and sarcastic ; and 
mother ” 

“ Well, Agnes?” 

“ I hardly like to say it, but mother would be absolutely 
cruel to him. She would accuse both him and me of being 
underhand. She would say just the things he would find 
hardest to bear, and between them they will make him 
angry.” 

“ I am not sure that that will do him any harm. He 
is a strong man, and he will be fighting the battle for you 
as well as himself. He will be playing for a high stake, 
and he will not lose his temper. I think you could trust 
him, Agnes.” 

“ I could trust him with my life and everything I hold 
sacred,” she returned in a trembling voice ; “ but I cannot 
bear that he should be hurt by my own people.” 


There Is Always a Way 


209 


I think myself that it would be best for you to speak 
to your mother first/' returned Elinor. I fear that, after 
all, this is the only way. You are not the sort of woman 
who would lend herself to a clandestine marriage — you 
have far too high a sense of duty. It remains that you 
must either give up Mr. Keith, and try to live your life 
without him — for you could not possibly go on visiting 
at Crow Farm — or you must summon up your courage 
and make a clean breast to your mother. Tell her in 
plain language that your whole happiness is involved, and 
that it is your wish to marry Mr. Keith." 

‘And then, Elinor?" 

“And then for a time no doubt things will be very 
terrible, and you will have to be brave and patient. It 
may be that, after a time, you and Mr. Keith will be 
compelled to take things into your own hands, and that 
one day you may walk out of your brother's house openly 
and in the light of day, with the fixed intention of be- 
coming Hammond Keith's wife. I am no prophet and 
have no gift of second sight, so I cannot say that such a 
thing will happen." 

“ No, indeed. But, Elinor, you almost take my breath 
away, for you seem to make impossible things appear 
possible. I must think over all this." 

“ Yes, dear, think — and pray that you may make no 
mistake." 

Then, as Elinor almost whispered this, a sweet expres- 
sion came in Agnes's face. “ I never forget that," she 
returned in a low voice. And after this they said no 
more. 

It was a lovely evening when Elinor started for her 
homeward walk with the vicar. The long strain of her 
talk with Agnes had wearied her, and the delightful fresh- 
ness of the air, cooled by the thunder-showers of the 
previous night, seemed to revive her. 

“ How beautiful everything looks," she said, as they 
v/alked down the village street. The vicar assented, but 
without enthus*iasm. He was not a man to be sensibly 
affected by the sights and sounds of Nature. He was 
glad when the day was fine and the sun shone pleasantly, 
for such things added to his material comfort; but he 

14 


210 


No Friend Like a Sister 


seldom paused to admire the effect of sunset clouds, or 
to gather a wild-flower that peeped at him from the 
hedgerow. In Wordsworth’s words — 

A primrose by a river’s brim 
A yellow primrose was to him, 

And it was nothing more. 


Not that there was any deficiency of imagination about 
Gale Warburton; he was simply a man of one idea — his 
studies claimed all his interest and enthusiasm. The 
beauty of a Hindoo poem would thrill him to instant 
repose, and the discovery of some new monument would 
kindle in him a perfect fire of eagerness, but his eyes and 
ears were sealed to the small everyday pleasures of life. 

As they turned into the road, Mr. Warburton began 
speaking of his sister. ‘'Agnes does not seem like herself 
to-day,” he observed. But Elinor was spared a reply, for 
at that moment Hugh Milner passed them on his bicycle. 
She thought he looked at them a little intently as he rode 
by, but did not attempt to stop. The vicar nodded to him 
and resumed the subject. “I was saying something of 
the kind the other day to my mother — that I thought she 
did not seem in her usual spirits.” 

“ Did your mother agree to this ? ” 

“ I am not sure — I think she only remarked that Agnes 
had her moods like other people.” 

“ I fancy your sister leads too quiet a life, Mr. War- 
burton,” returned Elinor bravely, for she felt that this 
was an opportunity not to be lost. “Agnes has so few 
interests, and she is so much alone.” 

“ There is no need for her to be alone, with my mother 
in the house,” he returned quickly; “but unfortunately 
Agnes is not much of a companion to her. You see, 
Agnes is a good creature, but she is a little dense; she 
has all the virtues of a German Hausfrau, but what in- 
terests us simply bores her.” 

There was no use denying the truth, so Elinor let this 
pass. “Agnes is very simple,” she went on, “ but in her 
own way she has plenty of ability. It is not possible for 
us all to be alike, Mr. Warburton. Your mother is a 


There Is Always a Way 


211 


clever woman, and you and she are close companions and 
friends, but it seems sad that Agnes should be lonely/' 

V She is not more lonely than other girls of her age," 
he replied rather brusquely. Pshaw, I always forget 
she is hardly a girl now. What is it she wants ? She has 
a good home and plenty of friends, her time is her own 
and no one interferes with her, and she has just enough 
money to supply her own wants — surely these things are 
to be reckoned as blessings." 

'' Without doubt. But in my opinion Agnes would be 
happier in a home of her own — she is very domestic in 
her tastes." 

That is exactly what I said. Miss Gresham," he re- 
turned triumphantly, '' that Agnes has the soul of a Ger- 
man Hausfrau. As a wife of some plodding, honest squire 
she would be in her right sphere, and do excellently; 
but I am afraid from what my mother tells me that she 
has missed all her chances." 

Oh, I hope not. But surely it is not necessary that 
her husband should be a country squire." 

No, of course not " — with a short laugh. But she 
must marry some one decent, or I should certainly refuse 
to give her away. We have no democratic ideas at 
Tylcote Hall. In fact, my mother has often found fault 
with Agnes because she is rather fond of mixing with 
people below her. And if you will allow me to say so " — 
turning tb her with a pleasant smile — this is why we 
so fully approve of her friendship with the ladies of Wild- 
croft." 

You are very kind," returned Elinor, colouring a 
little ; for, in spite of his ingratiating manner, there was a 
touch of condescension in the vicar's tone. 

What more he would have said remained unspoken, 
for at that moment, to her great relief, she saw Bride 
coming towards them. 

There comes your sister-in-law, and here is the road 
that I must take for Dewhurst," he observed, and then 
Rufus dashed up to them. But perhaps the vicar was 
not in a hurry to keep his appointment, for he walked on 
with them for another half-mile before he took his leave. 


XXVI 


Hammond Keith 


The rank is but the guinea’s stamp, 
The man’s the gowd for a’ that. 

Burns. 


Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, 

An honest man’s the noblest work of God. 

Burns. 

Things seemed to move rather rapidly after this. 

When, later on, Elinor looked back at this period of 
her life, she always spoke of it as the eventful year,'’ 
or the year of surprises." One thing seemed to 
happen after another," she said once to Frances. There 
was first our flitting from Grove House and our settling 
down at Wildcroft, and then there was poor Agnes's love 

affair, and Bride's difficulties, and " but Elinor did 

not finish her speech. 

It was certainly strange that the very afternoon after 
her visit to the Hall she should accidentally come across 
Hammond Keith. 

She and Bride had passed a pleasant, peaceful day 
working, and either talking or reading aloud in their 
little encampment under the sycamore. The July day 
had been somewhat sultry, and neither of them had 
felt disposed for exertion ; but when it grew cooler 
Bride, who was expecting a parcel of work materials 
from London, was anxious to drive to Maskell to fetch 
them, though Elinor could not be induced to accom- 
pany her. 

‘‘ Why don't you let Joe Twitchett fetch them on Mon- 
day? " she objected ; but Bride refused to wait. 

If you are lazy, there is no reason why I should be 
lazy too," she remarked virtuously ; it is quite cool now, 
and a little exercise will be good for Meg." And then 


Hammond Keith 


213 


she went off singing so blithely that any one would have 
thought that she had not a care in the world. 

Elinor smiled half-tenderly and half-sadly as Bride's 
graceful figure disappeared into the house. ‘‘ What a 
child she is," she said to herself ; she can never wait 
for her good things. Joe is going to the station on Mon- 
day and she knows that, but she would rather drive all 
those miles there and have her parcel to-night, — that is 
so like Bride." 

The garden felt a little dull without her companion, so 
she summoned Rufus for a stroll up the lane; and she 
had just reached the point where it branched off into the 
main road when some one cleared the five-barred gate 
beside her and almost alighted at her feet. To her sur- 
prise it was Mr. Keith. He seemed rather taken aback 
when he saw her. 

“ I hope I have not startled you. Miss Gresham ; I had 
no idea that there was any one the other side of the hedge. 
I generally take my gates in that fashion." Elinor glanced 
at him rather anxiously. He was a little flushed and red 
from his day's work, but there was a heaviness in his 
aspect and a constraint in his manner that was foreign 
to him; he looked to her as though he had slept badly. 
It was quite evident that he had not yet recovered the 
shock of Agnes's refusal, though probably his first out- 
burst of anger had died out. 

You were' at Tylcote Hall the greater part of the day 
yesterday," he said abruptly. 

Elinor looked at him in some amazement. How could 
you guess that ? " she asked. 

I saw you pass when I was in the long meadow with 
George Deans quite early in the morning, and as I knew 
Madam was away, I made up my mind that you were 
going to the Hall ; and then in the evening Milner told 
me that he had just passed you and the vicar." 

Our roads lay together for a mile or so, and I was 
expecting to meet my sister-in-law." Elinor never knew 
why she offered this explanation — perhaps the surprised 
expression on Hugh Milner's face recurred to her mem- 
ory. ‘‘ Yes, I spent quite a long day with Miss War- 
burton." And then she paused as though uncertain how 


214 


No Friend Like a Sister 


she should proceed; but she was rather astonished when 
Hammond Keith placed himself beside her. 

‘‘ May I walk a little way with you ? he said very 
gravely. You were in Gad’s Barn that evening — I left 
her with you — and I am sure that she told you everything. 
Am I right?” 

Yes, you are right,” she returned reluctantly, for it 
was impossible for her to evade the truth ; but she did 
not tell it all that evening, she was far too upset. That 
is why I went over yesterday, Mr. Keith, because I was 
so concerned about her.” 

‘‘Will you tell me how she is?” he asked in a low 
voice ; but he did not look at her as he spoke. 

“ She looks ill, and is very unhappy,” returned Elinor. 

“And it is my fault,” with a sudden vehemence that 
startled her. “ Miss Gresham, for two nights I have 
hardly slept. I cannot forgive myself for my anger. I 
was harsh and rough with her ; I forgot myself and told 
her that I wished that I had never seen her face — that 
she had spoiled both our lives ; and now I feel that I could 
go out and hang myself.” 

“ There is no need for your saying such things,” re- 
turned Elinor gently, and her whole woman’s heart 
seemed to go out to him as she spoke. “ Miss Warburton 
bears you no ill-will for your hard speeches. On the 
contrary, she blames herself for much that has happened. 
She certainly thinks that her weakness and imprudence 
have placed you both in a false position ; and, Mr. Keith, 
I think she is right.” 

“ No,” he almost shouted — “ a hundred times no ! I 
will not allow you to say this. It is true that all these 
years she has honoured me with her friendship, but she 
has never said a word to encourage my presumption, — no 
child could have been more innocent and unconscious. 

“ Miss Gresham, will you tell her this ? Thank God, 
she has at last found a friend who can be a comfort to 
her.” 

“ I wish I could comfort you and her too,” replied 
Elinor kindly. “ Mr. Keith, what is to be done ? for this 
state of things is terrible.” 

“ I do not know,” he returned gloomily ; “ I have done 


Hammond Keith 


215 


all I can, but my hands are tied. I said my last word in 
Gad’s Barn that evening.” 

Oh no, not your last word.” 

‘‘ I mean, that I said all that I could say to induce her 
to change her mind. I told her the truth, Miss Gresham 
— that she was breaking her own heart and mine too, 
that she was losing her youth and would lose her health 
too, and all from a mistaken sense of duty. If her people 
needed her — but they do not ; but she is so afraid of them 
that she dare not speak.” 

“And she will not allow you to speak for her ? ” 

Then he suddenly faced round at her, and she was 
astonished at the change in his expression. It was as 
though her words had given him a gleam of hope. 

“ If she would only give me the right to do so,” he 
said with suppressed eagerness, “ I would go to the vicar 
to-morrow. I am afraid of no man,” drawing himself 
up proudly. “ Miss Gresham,” standing still in the road 
as he spoke, “ will you do this thing for me — will you 
persuade her to let me tell her brother the truth ? ” 

Elinor looked at him as he stood before her. Not a 
creature was in sight — the long country road stretched 
before them in its still emptiness. He was in his working 
dress, and his face was a little haggard and weary from 
sleeplessness and the strain and stress of trouble, but as 
she looked up at him silently she thought that she had 
never seen a manlier or more honest face, or one that any 
woman could more absolutely trust. “ The man’s the 
gowd for a’ that,” as Burns said, and few country squires 
could have compared with Hammond Keith. 

“Will you do this thing for me?” he repeated. 

“ There is no need, I have already suggested it,” she 
returned slowly ; “ but Agnes seems more afraid of that 
than anything. She says her mother and brother will 
insult you and say just the things that you will find it 
hard to bear.” Then for the first time a smile crossed 
his face. 

“ Hard words break no bones,” he replied composedly. 
“ They may say what they will, but I should refuse to 
quarrel with them. Miss Gresham, you do not know 
what a man feels when he is in a position like mine. 


216 


No Friend Like a Sister 


There is the longing to do something — to fight if need 
be. Anything, anything but to sit down and mope until 
one is desperate.’’ 

Yes, I know.” But here Elinor looked round her 
with a little dismay; the road seemed strange to her — 
surely they had wandered far. ''We must turn back, 
for I seem a long way from home.” 

" No, it is not far,” he replied. " But I have no right 
to tire you in this way; but I was so full of my own 
troubles. You will let me see you to the head of the 
lane? and then I fear I must leave you, or my mother 
will be anxious.” 

" Mr. Keith, that was one question I wanted to ask 
you — does your mother know about all this ? ” 

" She knows it now,” he replied gravely. " That even- 
ing I got back from Gad’s Barn I was so upset that there' 
was no hiding it from her. It seems she had guessed at 
things pretty correctly, but she had thought it best not 
to speak to me until I told her of my own accord. Mother 
is like that. She can keep a still tongue when she likes, 
but when it comes to comforting a man there is no woman 
on earth to beat her.” 

Elinor smiled ; she was glad to hear him say that. 

" She told me not to lose heart, for she knew Miss 
Warburton would not long hold out ; and she wanted me 
to set about doing up 'The Chimney-Corner,’ and fur- 
nishing it. She said so again last night ; but it seems a 
strange thing to do while affairs are in this muddle. But 
mother says if things come to the worst it can easily be 
let.” 

" I think it is rather a good idea.” And then again his 
face lighted up. 

"There’s a deal to be done to it, and it would take off 
my thoughts a bit to get things ship-shape. And then it 
would be ready for her if she makes up her mind to take 
me. I can’t help hoping. Miss Gresham, although I am 
so down at times, and this talk with you has done me a 
world of good.” 

" I am so thankful to hear you say that. I only wish 
I could do more for you.” 

"If you would only tell her how sorry I am that I was 


Hammond Keith 


217 


so rough and impatient, you will do me another kindness. 
And tell her — please tell her — how ready I am to go to 
the vicar.’’ 

‘‘ I am not sure that I can tell her that.” 

Well, well, you know best,” with a sigh ; ‘‘ but it seems 
to me the most straightforward, honest thing to do. They 
need not fear that I should bring her to poverty. Miss 
Gresham. I have Crow Farm and ‘The Chimney-Corner’ 
and a clear five thousand at the bank. I could give her 
her little comforts.” 

“ I suppose you know Miss Warburton has a little 
money of her own.” 

“ It is not much,” was the answer — “ just sufficient for 
her clothes and her pocket-money ; but as far as I am con- 
cerned, I wish she had not a penny piece. Good heavens, 
what is money, or even rank, that they should separate 
two people who love each other and are willing to face 
the world together! When will there be an end to all 
this sham and humbug I But here we are at the head of 
the lane.” 

“And you have all that long walk to Crow Farm.” 

“ Oh, I shall sleep all the better for it. Good-night, 
Miss Gresham, and thank you a hundred times for all 
your patient sympathy.” And then he wrung her hand 
and turned away, and Elinor walked quickly in the di- 
rection of Wildcroft. 

Bride had already returned, and was deep in the con- 
tents of her parcel. The drawing-room chairs were 
strewn with patterns, silks, and strips of canvas. “ It is 
the most delightful parcel,” she observed rapturously, 
“ and the shades of silks are just delicious. You look 
tired, Elinor, but I am far too busy to sing to you to- 
night.” 

Elinor had plenty of food for her thoughts that even- 
ing. Her conversation with Hammond Keith had greatly 
interested her. With all her sound common-sense and 
equable temperament, there was an unsuspected sub- 
stratum of romance in her nature. Probably Frances was 
the only one who guessed this. She once declared play- 
fully that she never knew any one out of her teens who 
took such interest in a love-story, whether it were truth 


218 


No Friend Like a Sister 


or fiction, and Elinor had not attempted to defend herself ; 
any human life-story appealed strongly to her, and she 
knew it, and a lover always came to her in the light of a 
hero. 

The next day was Sunday, and they spent it as happily 
as usual. Bride always declared that Sundays at Meadow 
Thorpe were different from any others. 

It was their custom to go over to the early service at 
Dewhurst. The walk over the dewy fields in the morning 
freshness was indescribably beautiful. Now and then 
they breakfasted at the Vicarage ; but they generally pre- 
ferred returning to Wildcroft and spending the sultry 
hours of the day under the shady trees on the lawn. In 
the evening they would walk over to Dewhurst again for 
evensong. 

Elinor had fully expected a note from Agnes would 
be on the breakfast-table on Monday morning, and she 
was much disappointed not to see her handwriting — until 
Bride suggested that she might probably come over later 
in the day. But when evening came there was still no 
word or sign of her. Elinor felt vaguely uneasy. She 
could not well go over again to the Hall, as a second 
visit so soon might cause a little surprise; besides, Mrs. 
Warburton would be there, and she might find it difficult 
to get any quiet time with Agnes. 

‘‘ I expect I shall have a letter to-morrow,” she ob- 
served, as she rose from the supper-table. '' If I do not 
hear, I shall send Twitchett over with a note in the after- 
noon, and ask Agnes to spend a long day with us on 
Wednesday.” And Bride fully approved of this. She 
wanted to show Agnes her new patterns, she remarked, 
and ask her advice about a special shade. Besides, she 
has not been over to see us for the last ten days ” — and 
Bride spoke in quite an injured voice. 

The note was written and sent over to Tylcote Hall, 
and late in the afternoon Elinor had her reply. Joe had 
had several errands to discharge, and had been detained 
a long time at the farrier’s. 

“ Well ! ” exclaimed Bride a little impatiently, as Elinor 
folded up her note and remained silent. Her expression 
was a little troubled. 


Hammond Keith 


219 


'"Agnes is not well/' she returned hurriedly ; " she 
cannot possibly come. She has written very hurriedly; 
she wants to know if I could go over early to-morrow 
afternoon — about three if convenient, as she will prob- 
ably be alone. Mrs. Warburton and her son will be 
lunching at Mexfield Rectory." 

" Oh, you will go, of course," returned Bride ; " you 
had better let Joe drive you over, for it is far too hot for 
you to bicycle " ; and Elinor agreed to do this. But when 
Bride had left the room she read her note again, and 
there was still a troubled look in her eyes. 

" Dear Elinor," Agnes wrote, " I cannot possibly come. 
On Monday I was quite ill; it was a dreadful day" (un- 
derlined), "and I am still quite a wreck, and fit for 
nothing but bed. I dare not keep the messenger waiting, 
so cannot explain. Do you think you could possibly come 
to-morrow early in the afternoon, not later than three? 
Mother and Gale are going to a luncheon party at the 
Morrells to meet the Bishop, and they will not be back 
until after five. Do come if you can. — Your loving but 
most unhappy friend, Agnes." 


XXVII 


“ I Insist on Knowing the Truth ” 


Truth is our only armour in all passages of life or death. — 
Emerson. 

Unless you are deliberately kind to every creature, you will 
often be cruel to many. — Ruskin. 

Agnes’s hurried and somewhat incoherent note dis- 
turbed and puzzled Elinor. She had left her on Friday 
in a most unhappy and vacillating state of mind, unable 
to see her way, and too utterly unnerved and shaken to 
decide on any definite line of action. She could neither 
accept nor reject advice, every obstacle seemed magnified 
a hundredfold by her fears. The course Elinor had ven- 
tured to suggest, a frank unburdening of her mind to 
her mother, seemed so utterly impossible that the very 
thought paled her cheek, and yet it was equally impossible 
to give up her lover ! Under these circumstances, it was 
inconceivable that in these few days Agnes should have 
summoned up resolution to do the very thing which she 
had declared to be beyond her strength, and that she had 
spoken to her mother ; and yet the underlined words cer- 
tainly gave that impression. On Monday I was quite 
ill ; it was a dreadful day.” Surely Agnes would never 
have used such strong language for any ordinary dis- 
agreement with her people. Something unforeseen must 
have happened to force her hand. And when Elinor ar- 
rived at this point she very wisely determined to put it 
out of her mind as much as possible. 

As it was best to occupy herself, she proposed to Bride 
that they should walk over to Sweet Hawes to see Mrs. 
Twitchett and the new baby; and as Bride seemed de- 
lighted with the idea, Elinor filled a basket with good 
things, while Bride made up a parcel of small garments 
that she and Elinor had made in their leisure moments. 


I Insist on Knowing the Truth 221 


The walk over the fields was always pleasant on sum- 
mer evenings, and Elinor felt insensibly refreshed by the 
calm stillness and beauty of the scene. Sibley the wag- 
goner was bringing up his team, and Elinor stood still for 
a moment to watch him as he opened the gate for the 
great cart horses to enter the meadow. Two or three 
young colts came to meet them whinnying with joy and 
welcome. All day they had basked or frolicked in the 
sunshine, while the older horses had been at work, and 
now for them also was rest, and the enjoyment of crop- 
ping the sweet juicy grass. One old white horse with 
shaggy hoofs suddenly lay down and began rolling 
solemnly; then he staggered up and commenced feed- 
ing with the absorbed fixity of purpose peculiar to quad- 
rupeds. 

When they reached the Twitchetts’ neat cottage at 
Sweet Hawes, they found Joe working in the little front 
garden. His eldest child, a round-faced mite of three, 
was filling her little pail with weeds and stones by way of 
helping ‘‘ feyther ” ; the other little girl was in her cot. 

How is your wife this evening, Joe, ’’ asked Elinor, 
as he rose to his feet and took the basket from her hand. 

Well, the missis is but nesh this evening, Miss 
Gresham ; the heat has tried her.’’ 

‘^And the boy?” 

“ Oh, the boy’s foine ” ; and Joe smiled broadly, for 
he was immensely proud of his son and heir. Don’t 
you trouble about the basket, I will help it home ” — a 
speech which made Bride give a suppressed chuckle of 
enjoyment. 

They found the pale mother a little languid from the 
warm sultriness of the day, but full of shy eagerness to 
show the ladies Joe’s boy.” My man had set his heart 
on a boy,” she said, as she drew the covering from the 
little dark head that nestled beside her. The wrinkled 
red face, puckered like an old man’s, and the bright slits 
of eyes rather amused Elinor ; but Bride, who was a baby- 
lover, had the infant in her arms in a trice, and was 
rocking him as though nursing babies was her daily 
occupation. Bride had always such deft, clever ways with 
children; she could keep them happy for hours. Elinor 


222 


No Friend Like a Sister 


stifled a sigh as she watched her. If she could only see 
Bride with a child of her own, she thought, what a mother 
she would be, how her whole nature would enlarge and 
develop under the fuller life ! Bride never looked sweeter 
than she did that evening. Look at this little crumpled 
fist, Elinor ! exclaimed Bride suddenly. He is a very 
intelligent little fellow really, he is trying to hold my fin- 
ger. Mrs. Twitchett, I wonder if you and Joe would let 
me stand godmother for him ? '' 

'' Dear heart alive, ma’am, Joe will be just cockered up 
with pride — he do think so much of the ladies up at 
Wildcroft ” ; and Mrs. Twitchett beamed. She was rather 
a pretty-looking young woman, but extremely delicate; 
but she made Joe a good wife. 

“ I hope you will choose a nice name,” continued Bride, 
as she rocked the infant on her lap. 

Well, ma’am, my master has set his heart on calling 
him John after his feyther. Joe always thought a deal 
of his parents.” 

'' John,” repeated Bride rather dubiously. Then her 
expression brightened. Well, you can always call him 
Jack,” she observed. 

And then, as Elinor announced that they would be late 
for supper. Bride unwillingly parted with, her future god- 
son ; and all the way home she talked about the christening 
frock, upon which she meant to set to work the very next 
day. Happily, Bride never minded laying aside one sort 
of work for another. Sometimes she had at least a dozen 
pieces of work in hand at once, but they generally got 
finished some time. 

Elinor set out the next day for the Hall as early as 
possible. The parlour-maid who admitted her told her 
that Miss Warburton was lying down in her bedroom; 
she had intended coming down to luncheon, but had 
turned a little faint while dressing, and had lain down 
again. 

I never saw Miss Agnes look so bad,” she con- 
tinued ; but my mistress said it was the heat, and that 
there was no need to send for Dr. Gibson.” 

Arnold had been some years at the Hall, and was a 
reliable and valued servant. Elinor always liked her 


I Insist on Knowing the Truth 223 


honest, good-tempered face. She had a kind heart, and 
Agnes had often spoken of little voluntary services and 
acts of thoughtfulness on Arnold’s part. When she went 
home for her summer holidays, she would bring her back 
some lovely flowers. Her father was a nursery-man in 
Rugby. Agnes was much attached to her, and had once 
nursed her through an illness — the Arnolds had never 
forgotten this. Arnold’s tone conveyed to Elinor that 
she had not shared her mistress’s opinion with regard to 
the doctor, but she knew her place too well to dissent 
openly. 

Agnes’s room was at the back of the house, and over- 
looked the kitchen garden. It was a large pleasant room, 
and very prettily furnished ; only the previous year Mrs. 
Warburton had fitted it up afresh to suit her daughter’s 
taste. 

Agnes was lying on the bed in her white dressing- 
gown, propped up with pillows, that the faint breeze could 
reach her. She looked extremely ill, but Elinor at once 
saw that Mrs. Warburton was right, it was not a doctor 
she needed, her malady was of the mind. 

She looked at Elinor without speaking for a moment, 
but the silent pressure of her friend’s hand was eloquent 
enough. 

Dear Agnes,” observed Elinor in a low voice, I am 
grieved to see you like this. Your letter made me very 
anxious. I was sure something had happened, but of 
course I could not understand what it could be.” 

No, for I could not explain ” — rather faintly. I was 
afraid it would trouble you, but I did so want to see you, 
and to tell you everything. Oh, Elinor, such an unex- 
pected thing happened — Hammond Keith wrote to me.” 

Her manner rather surprised Elinor. ‘‘ Has he never 
written to you before this ? ” 

Never, never — not a line or note has ever reached 
me before; and when I saw his handwriting, for the 
moment I did not recognise it, though I have read more 
than one letter of his to Mrs. Keith. But I see you do 
not understand all the difficulty; neither did he, poor 
fellow, or he never would have done such a thing. Wait 
a moment, I shall be better directly, and I must speak.” 


224 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Elinor gave her some water, and sat beside her silently 
until the brief weakness passed. 

It is ffiis stupid faintness/’ she went on ; '' but it has 
passed again, and I do not want to lose time. Perhaps 
you do not know that we have a private post-bag at the 
Hall, and mother, who is always down first, generally 
opens it and sorts the letters. Gale’s correspondence is 
very large, and his letters are always placed ready for 
him. He was unusually late on Monday morning, and 
mother and I breakfasted alone. I thought she looked a 
little curiously at my letter as she handed it to me. 

^ I don’t think I have seen that handwriting before ; 
it is very good,’ she observed, ^and it has the local post- 
mark. And then she set herself to read her own letters. 
Oh, Elinor, when I opened it and saw his name, I felt 
as though I could sink through the floor. If I could only 
leave it unread until I was safe in my own room, but I 
knew there was no escape for me. Mother was already 
a little curious on the subject, and would be sure to ques- 
tion me. I read it hastily, and almost without taking in 
the sense; it was hours before I really realised the con- 
tents. Oh, it was such a dear letter, Elinor. He asked 
me to forgive him his harshness to me that evening 
in Gad’s Barn, but that he could never forgive himself 
for hurting me so ; and then he implored me to give him 
the right to speak to my brother. But I cannot tell you 
half he said. It was my first love-letter and it may be 
my last, but I shall treasure it as long as I live ” — and 
Agnes’s soft eyes were full of tears. 

“And you read that letter in your mother’s presence? ” 
asked Elinor in a dismayed voice. 

“ I attempted to read it, but I had to give it up at last 
and put it into my pocket, while I pretended to go on 
with my breakfast. Oh, if only Gale would come in, I 
thought, and make a diversion! But at that moment 
mother pushed aside her letters and looked across at me. 
‘ Do you want some more coffee, Agnes ? Why are you 
not eating your breakfast properly? By the bye, who 
was your correspondent? — you are very unentertaining 
this morning.’ 

“ ‘It was from Mr. Keith.’ Oh, Elinor, I don’t know 


I Insist on Knowing the Truth 225 


how I managed to say the words. My answer seemed to 
surprise her. 

‘Hammond Keith/ her lip curling, and speaking in a 
dry, displeased tone. ‘ I was not aware that you carried 
your friendship for the Keiths to this extraordinary ex- 
tent. May I ask how long you have corresponded with 
this young man ? ’ Her manner made me so indignant 
that it gave me spirit to answer. 

“ ‘ I have never had a letter from Mr. Keith before, 
and have never written to him in my life.’ 

“ ‘ Then I presume you have no objection to tell me 
why he has written now?’ 

“ ‘ He thought he had offended me,’ I stammered, ‘ and 
was anxious to apologise,’ for this was literally all I had 
mastered of the contents. ‘ It is a private letter, mother, 
so I cannot show it to you,’ for I saw plainly that she 
was expecting this. 

“ Elinor, I am sure now that this explanation, lame as 
it was, would have satisfied her, if my manner had not 
aroused her suspicion. My heart was beating so that I 
could hardly speak, and I expect this made me rather 
pale, and mother’s eyes are very sharp. 

“ ‘Agnes,’ she said quickly, ‘ there is more in this than 
meets the eye; you are as white as a sheet, and your 
hands are shaking. I have long disapproved of these 
constant visits to Crow Farm — I cannot conceive how a 
daughter of mine can have so little self-respect — but now 
I am determined that they shall cease. Tell me, for I 
insist on knowing the truth, has this young man Ham- 
mond Keith dared to make love to you ? ’ ” 

“ Oh, poor Agnes, poor Agnes,” murmured Elinor 
pityingly, “ your hand was indeed forced.” 

“You may well say so; I wonder I did not die with 
shame and misery. Of course it all came out. I had 
never told a lie in my life ; besides, it was no use hiding 
the truth any longer. I do not know what I said, but 
I must have been utterly reckless, and all the time 
mother’s cruel speeches seemed to goad me on. I re- 
member telling her that no one loved or wanted me at 
home, and that I could not endure my loneliness any 
longer; that I loved Hammond Keith, and that he was 
15 


226 


No Friend Like a Sister 


the only man I wished to marry ; and although they might 
not consider him a gentleman, that he was the truest and 
noblest man that I had ever met. 

Elinor, can you believe that I could ever have had 
the courage to say such things before them both; for 
Gale heard me, he had entered the room a few minutes 
before. I saw the look that passed between them; they 
seemed to think that I was beside myself. I think mother 
was rather frightened, for she came up to me and put 
her hand on my arm. 

' We will not talk about it any more just now, Agnes,’ 
she said, ‘ you are not fit. You had better go and lie 
down in your room, while I give Gale his breakfast.’ 

I suppose she meant to be kind ; and as I saw they 
wanted to get rid of me, and I could scarcely stand, I took 
her advice ; but at the door I flung them a parting word. 
‘ Whatever Gale may say or thifik, I cannot change my 
mind,’ and then I left them.” 

Elinor listened to this in a sort of nightmare. She had 
known herself the keen pain of disunion and the strife of 
wills; but in comparison with Agnes’s trouble, Augusta, 
with all her high-handed ways and temperamental diffi- 
culties, had given them little to bear. Here a deeper and 
more tragic note was struck — a woman’s timid nature was 
trying to fight a losing battle against the strong forces of 
pride and a despotic will. Elinor sighed a little hope- 
lessly; the few words of comfort that she tried to utter 
seemed so inadequate and futile. 

Agnes went on to tell her that she had been so shaken 
by the scene through which she had passed, that she had 
had a sort of hysterical attack as soon as she reached her 
room ; but she had not summoned any one to her aid, and 
after a time it had passed, and later on she fell into an 
exhausted sleep. 

When she woke she found Arnold beside her with a 
tempting little tea-tray. I was afraid to let you sleep 
any longer, Miss Agnes,” she said, '' for you have been 
fasting since breakfast, and it is nearly five now.” And 
then as she turned her pillows and made her comfortable, 
she told her that her mistress had been in more than once 
to look after her, and that she had desired her to wake 


I Insist on Knowing the Truth 227 


her and induce her to take some food. But when Elinor 
suggested that this showed motherly consideration on 
Mrs. Warburton’s part, Agnes shook her head with a 
faint smile. Mother was frightened because I looked 
so white and still — like a corpse, as Arnold expressed it — 
but when she knew I had taken the food she seemed 
relieved. But she did not come near me again that even- 
ing. Oh, Elinor, those long weary hours! Later on 
Arnold helped me to bed, and coaxed me to take some 
fruit and jelly, for I was so weak I could hardly stand. I 
had read Hammond’s letter more than once, and after a 
time it comforted me a little; and soon after the church 
clock struck twelve I fell asleep, and did not wake for a 
few hours. The birds were just stirring in the grey 
dawn, I could hear their familiar twitterings — the new 
day and its troubles were before me ! ” And here Agnes 
broke off as though she were weary. There is more 
to tell, but it must wait a little,” she said with a tired 
smile, and then for a time they were both silent. 


XXVIII 


“ Is This Youe Last Word, Mother? ” 


The woes of life are lessened by a friend, 

In all the cares of life, we by a friend 
Assistance find; who’d be without a friend? 

Anon. 

Be patient! Time will reinstate thy health and fortune. — 
Anon. 

In a short time Elinor was put in possession of the 
few remaining facts. 

Agnes had battled with her weakness after breakfast, 
and had succeeded in dressing herself, and was just rest- 
ing after her exertions on her sitting-room couch, when 
her mother entered the room. She greeted her rather 
coldly, and after a curt inquiry after her health, sat down 
beside her. 

You had better lie still,” she observed, as Agnes at- 
tempted to rise ; your excitement yesterday has of 
course, made you ill, and you must expect to suffer for it. 
I was never so shocked in my life, and have hardly slept 
all night; but I will not enter upon that, neither will I 
expose myself to a repetition of yesterday’s scene. I am 
here by Gale’s desire to tell you what we have decided to 
do.” And then in the same frigid, hostile manner she 
informed Agnes that a note had been sent round to Crow 
Farm, asking Mr. Keith to call that afternoon, as the 
vicar wished to speak to him. 

'' But, mother, why has Gale sent for him ? ” exclaimed 
Agnes. 

'' Because your brother thinks, and I fully agree with 
him, that it is our duty to bring this young man to 
reason, and to check any further presumption on his part. 
He has taken an unwarrantable liberty in daring to make 
love to you, and if you have so utterly forgotten yourself 


Is This Your Last Word, Mother? 229 


as to encourage his impertinence, your nearest relations 
must protect you. Now, Agnes, I will not have any more 
ridiculous arguments — you made us fully aware of your 
sentiments yesterday. Nothing on earth will induce us to 
countenance such a marriage, and Gale will tell Mr. Keith 
so plainly. He will do so as civilly as possible, so you 
need not be afraid ; we only wish to put a stop to the affair 
as soon as possible.’’ 

But, Agnes, this was treating you like a child ! ” ex- 
claimed Elinor. 

So I told mother,” and a burning flush came to her 
cheek as she spoke. Dear Elinor, you must not think 
me more of a coward than I really am. It is true that 
mother’s temper always frightens me, but on this occasion 
she had it under her control. Neither she nor Gale 
treated me with any active unkindness, and in spite of 
their anger, they were trying to do what they thought 
best, and were willing to spare my feelings as much as 
possible. Oh, I will do them justice there.” 

But all the same, Agnes, they had no right to decide 
for you as though you had been a school-girl.” 

“ No, of course not, and I assure you that I did not 
tamely submit to such treatment. I spoke my mind to 
mother as I had never spoken it in my life. The night 
had given me strength and courage, and when I woke 
in the grey dawn, my resolution was taken that whatever 
happened I would be faithful to Hammond.” 

''And you told her this ? ” 

" I think I told her everything. I made her listen to 
me. I said to her that if she refused to hear me, I would 
go to Gale. I know that I surprised her, but after a 
minute she said that if I would not excite myself, she 
would hear what I chose to tell her. It was then I knew 
that my manner the previous day had really frightened 
her.” 

" Thank God, you had courage to speak, Agnes.” 

" It would be impossible to tell you half I said — I 
should not wish to do so. I know that I told her 
that no one had the right to decide such a question for 
a woman of my age, that one had only one life, and that 
not even a parent had the power to mar the happiness 


230 


No Friend Like a Sister 


of that life. I saw a satirical smile cross her lips when I 
said this. 

'' ‘ It is the age of revolting daughters/ she observed 
grimly. ^ In my young days we were taught our filial 
duty in a very different manner. I should not have dared 
to have spoken to my mother in the way you are speak- 
ing now ; she would have ordered me to my room.' 

'' 'And yet you and Gale are treating me, a woman of 
thirty, as though I were a child ! ' I exclaimed. 

" ' If a woman of thirty is a fool and acts like one, it 
is our duty to protect her from the consequences of her 
own folly,' she continued coldly. ' You are in an un- 
healthy, hysterical state of mind. You imagine yourself 
in love with this young man, but if you were mad enough 
to think of marrying him, you would repent bitterly every 
day you lived. Have you no sense of shame, Agnes — no 
regard for your brother's name? How can you think it 
possible that you, a refined, cultured woman, could ever 
be content with the society of a yeoman farmer and his 
mother ? ' 

" Elinor, if you had heard the contempt in her tone as 
she said this. But I was not shaken. 

" ' I am quite aware that Mr. Keith comes of a race of 
yeomen,' I returned, ' but he is not a poor man, and his 
pedigree is older than the Warburtons', and in heart and 
mind he is as truly a gentleman as Gale himself. Mother, 
it is no use. I shall be grieved indeed to act in opposition 
to your wishes, but if I marry any one it will be Ham- 
mond Keith.' 

" ' Then you must remain unmarried, Agnes. And if 
you will only give us your word of honour to cease all 
intercourse with Crow Farm, I will promise that no 
further word be said to you on the subject. We will go 
abroad until you have got over the affair, and both Gale 
and I will try to make your life happier.' And then she 
begged me to be reasonable. ' If you will only be guided 
by us in this matter, I can assure you that Mr. Keith shall 
be treated with the utmost consideration and courtesy. 
We shall, of course, decline any future acquaintance with 
him, and as I fear that it is necessary to use plain words 
with these people. Gale must put the matter forcibly be- 


Is This Your Last Word, Mother? 231 


fore him, but his dignity shall not be hurt. Of course, if 
you prefer to take it into your own hands, and write your- 
self to Mr. Keith, and will allow us to see the letter ’ 

But I shook my head. 

‘ Then in that case your brother must act for you.’ 
But I would not let her go on. 

‘And if, after a time, I make up my mind to marry 
Mr. Keith ? ’ I observed. Then mother’s manner changed, 
and a hard look came to her eyes. 

“ ‘ If you ever walk out of this house to do such a 
thing,’ she said sternly, ‘ you will certainly never cross 
its threshold again. Do not deceive yourself, Agnes; 
neither Gale nor I are the persons to forgive such an 
action as that. I have never yet been on visiting 
terms with the mistress of Crow Farm, and I never 
shall be.’ 

“‘Is this your last word, mother?’ I asked. ‘Have 
you no pity or compassion in your heart for your only 
daughter ? ’ 

“ ‘ I have no pity or compassion for a fool,’ she re- 
turned coldly, for her temper was roused at this opposi- 
tion. ‘ Well, I see it is no use wasting my time and 
breath over you — you are utterly wrong-headed and con- 
tumacious. We must take our line.’ And then, without 
looking at me, mother left the room.” 

“And did Mr. Keith come to the Hall ? ” 

“Yes, he came. When Arnold took away my lunch- 
eon-tray, she told me that she had just opened the door 
to him. He was here a long time, I knew that, for I saw 
him leave the house; I was watching from the passage 
window. I could see he was flushed ; but he was holding 
his shoulders squarely, and his head was higher than 
usual. But he never looked up.” 

“ But did you not hear what passed between Mr. 
Keith and your brother ? ” 

“ No. Mother only came to my room to wish me good- 
night; but she did not kiss me, and said that she could 
not stay a moment, as Gale was waiting for his game. 
When I questioned her, she merely drew herself up in an 
offended way, and remarked that she had no intention of 
saying anything further on such a distasteful subject. 


232 


No Friend Like a Sister 


‘ The young man’s ignorance of the world was so 
gross, and his presumption so insufferable, that Gale was 
utterly disgusted, and he had hard work to keep his 
temper. But as far as we are concerned the matter is 
settled; Mr. Keith will certainly not enter this house 
again.’ 

'' ‘ I should think not, mother !’ I exclaimed. But she 
only shrugged her shoulders, and then curtly wished me 
good-night. Oh, Elinor, why are you looking at your 
watch. It is surely not half-past four yet? ” 

“ It is just past the half-hour, dear.” 

Then Arnold will be here with the tea directly. You 
must not think of leaving me yet.” 

‘‘ You know I would rather not see your mother,” ob- 
served Elinor in a low voice, for Arnold’s footsteps were 
audible in the passage outside. 

‘‘ Mother will not be here until half-past five,” returned 
Agnes ; '' you need not leave for another half-hour. 
Arnold will tell her that you have been, so you can leave 
a civil message with her.” And then Elinor a little re- 
luctantly sat down again. She was very unwilling to run 
the risk — a meeting with Mrs. Warburton and her son 
would be extremely awkward under the circumstances — 
but she hardly liked to refuse Agnes this little pleasure. 
But as she handed her a cup of tea she said, Dear 
Agnes, the time is so short, and I have not said anything 
to help you, but you know how deeply I feel for you. 
I cannot think what you will do next.” 

'' Oh, that was the question I was asking myself last 
night,” returned Agnes with a sigh, but I had to give it 
up at last. I am too weak at present to think out any 
connected plan. I must just wait until I am stronger.” 

‘‘ I am so glad to hear you say that ! ” 

‘‘ If I could only know what passed yesterday ! My 
one fear is that he may write to me again, and that mother 
will refuse to give me the letter.” 

‘‘ Do you mean that she would destroy it ? ” 

'' If she did so she would tell me so quite openly, and 
glory in the act ; she would think she was doing her duty. 
Elinor, there is one thing you can do for me — if you see 
Hammond you could tell him that I do not wish him to 


Is This Your Last Word, Mother? 233 


write; if you mention about the locked post-bag he will 
understand/’ And after this Elinor took her leave. 

“ If I could only have done more for you,” she said 
wistfully, but Agnes gave her a loving smile. 

You are my one comfort. Think if I had had to bear 
all this by myself — if there had been no one whom I could 
trust. You have done more for me than you know, 
Elinor. There, I will not keep you, though it is only just 
five. God bless you, dear ! ” 

Elinor breathed freely the moment she found herself 
outside the bedroom door. But she was not to escape so 
easily. As she crossed the hall she heard the sound of 
carriage wheels. It was too late, Arnold had already 
perceived her; she must just face the situation with as 
good grace as possible. 

Mrs. Warburton was alone in the carriage. She got 
out slowly as though she were tired. She seemed some- 
what surprised when she saw Elinor, and looked at her 
a little suspiciously. 

Elinor tried to speak in her old natural manner. I 
have been sitting with Agnes, Mrs. Warburton, and she 
has given me some tea. I drove over this afternoon, but 
I am going to walk back.” 

Indeed,” returned Mrs. Warburton stiffly; '' if I had 
had any idea of your kind intention, I should have asked 
you to defer your visit for a few days. Agnes is not well 
enough to have visitors ; she is quite unfit for much talk.” 

She is looking very ill,” returned Elinor gravely. She 
was arrested by some subtle change in Mrs. Warburton’s 
appearance. She was beautifully dressed as usual, but 
she looked older, and extremely tired, and the brightness 
and animation of manner which were her chief charm had 
entirely gone. Instead, there was a hardness and severity 
in her expression which boded ill for Agnes. 

‘‘ Surely there is no need for you to hurry, Miss 
Gresham,” she said drily. ^‘As you have been here all 
the afternoon with Agnes, you can scarcely refuse to 
spare me ten minutes.” 

Then Elinor with some sinking of heart followed her 
into the drawing-room. It can only be ten minutes,” 
she observed with assumed cheerfulness, for Bride will 


234 


No Friend Like a Sister 


be expecting me/’ But Mrs. Warburton waved aside this 
excuse as though it were not of the least consequence; 
her manner became a little stern. 

I believe that I am right in thinking that you are in 
my daughter’s confidence, Miss Gresham ? '' 

Elinor hesitated ; it was a difficult question to answer. 
'' If you mean that I am acquainted with the cause of 
Agnes’s present unhappiness,” she said slowly, you are 
certainly right ; but I have only been put in possession of 
the facts a few days ago. I am very sorry for all that 
has happened, Mrs. Warburton, but I think it would be 
much wiser for us not to discuss it.” 

Nothing was further from my intention,” returned 
Mrs. Warburton in a hard, metallic voice. ''As the matter 
is settled, and my son has spoken his mind to this pre- 
sumptuous young man, there is not the slightest need for 
discussion. Agnes must pay the penalty of her own folly. 
If she is ill, she has only to thank herself.” 

" It grieves me to see her so unhappy,” observed 
Elinor; but this speech evidently did not please Mrs. 
Warburton. 

" People who refuse to do their duty ought to be 
unhappy,” she returned inflexibly. " I hope you do not 
intend to take Agnes’s part and encourage her in her op- 
position to her relatives. Gale and I trusted that you 
were too sensible to pander to this lamentable weakness, 
and that you would be a true friend to her.” 

" Mrs. Warburton,” replied Elinor with quiet dignity, 
" do not let us misunderstand each other on this subject. 
I love Agnes, and her troubles touch me very closely, but 
she is older than I, and our friendship is too recent to 
warrant my interference with a matter so entirely per- 
sonal. One piece of advice I did give her — that she 
should tell her mother everything.” 

A dark flush covered Mrs. Warburton’s face, and the 
sternness of her manner relaxed a little. " I can thank 
you at least for that. If you had also advised her to be 
guided by her mother’s counsel and knowledge of the 
world, I should have been indeed grateful. Agnes, in 
spite of her thirty years, is wonderfully ignorant for her 
age ; she knows as little of life as a nun behind the grille.” 


Is This Your Last Word, Mother? 235 


Elinor was silent ; she knew that there was partial truth 
in this statement. But she was unwilling to prolong 
the discussion, so she rose from her seat. 

My time is up, I fear, and you are very tired. May 
I come again and see how Agnes is ? But she regretted 
her question when Mrs. Warburton stiffened again. 

I think it would be better to leave her quiet for a 
few days ; talking only excites her. If she does not pick 
up, I will have Dr. Gibson ; but I do not think it will be 
necessary. Agnes shall send you a note in a day or two 
to tell you how she is.’’ And then Elinor thanked her 
somewhat gravely and took her leave. 

It was evident to her that Mrs. Warburton did not 
wholly trust her, and that she was disappointed in not 
securing her as an ally, but that at the same time she 
was unwilling to quarrel with her. For the present she 
was desirous of keeping the friends apart ; and Elinor, 
who knew that any free communication would be im- 
possible under such circumstances, could only acquiesce 
in this temporary separation. As she went quickly down 
the drive, she saw the vicar’s tall figure coming towards 
her from the Vicarage. The next moment they came face 
to face. He lifted his hat, but did not shake hands. 

I am rather in a hurry,” he said curtly, I have to 
write a letter for the Bishop before post time. I suppose 
you have seen my mother ? ” 

“ Oh yes, I have just left her.” And then he gave her 
one of his quick, inscrutable looks, and left her with a 
brief ''Good evening.” 

Elinor thought that his manner was less genial than 
usual. 

" I suppose he distrusts me too,” she said to herself, 
as she walked on. 

As she passed through the village she saw Hammond 
Keith standing in the doorway of a low white house 
across the road. He was talking to some one, and she 
did not think that he had seen her. She longed to retrace 
her steps and wait for him — for the opportunity of giving 
him Agnes’s message was almost too tempting to be re- 
sisted — ^but her natural prudence prevailed. 

She was in close vicinity to Tylcote Hall, and even in 


236 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Tylcote Street there were curious eyes and gossiping 
tongues — it would hardly do for her to walk through the 
village with Hammond Keith; so she repressed her im- 
patience. If it came to the worst she could send him a 
brief note. She made up her mind that she would do 
this. As she turned into the quiet country road, the next 
moment, she was conscious that she was followed. The 
rapid footsteps gained on her, and a well-known voice 
spoke her name. It was Hammond Keith ! 


XXIX 


“ A Man Has Broad Shoulders ” 

How can love lose doing of its kind 
Even to the uttermost ! 

E. Arnold. 

Scorn no man’s Love, though of a mean degree. 

Love is a present for a mighty king. 

Herbert. 

There was unmistakable pleasure on Elinor’s face as 
she held out her hand to the young man. I had no idea 
that it was you,” she said a little breathlessly; but there 
was no answering smile on Mr. Keith’s part. 

‘‘ I saw you pass while I was talking to Wat Telford,” 
he said gravely, '' and I made up my mind that I would 
follow you every step of the way to Meadow Thorpe for 
the chance of getting a word with you. Will you tell me 
how she is, Miss Gresham ? ” And his manner betrayed 
such intense though repressed anxiety that Elinor did 
her best to relieve his mind. 

Agnes was certainly not at all well, she told him. The 
heat had tried her, and she had slept badly ; but she hoped 
that in a few days she would be more like herself. And 
then she gave him Agnes’s message. She saw at once 
that the idea of the locked post-bag had never occurred 
to him. 

Who would have thought of that ! ” she heard him 
say under his breath. Well, forewarned is forearmed. 
I must find some other way. Miss Gresham, I am afraid 
that letter of mine is at the bottom of all this trouble ? ” 

I am not sure that you need regret that,” returned 
Elinor slowly. It is quite true that Mrs. Warburton’s 
suspicions at the sight of your handwriting compelled 
Agnes to own the truth, but in my opinion even that was 
better than going on day after day in useless concealment 
and misery. Now she has spoken out her whole mind to 

237 


238 


No Friend Like a Sister 


her mother, and this must be a relief/' But he shook his 
head. 

They have made her ill between them, you cannot 
deny that," he said gloomily ; and there was a fierce ex- 
pression in his sea-blue eyes that made him look more 
like a Viking than ever. 

''Agnes assured me that they were not really unkind to 
her, and she seemed far more anxious on your account 
than on her own. I am afraid you had rather a trying 
time yesterday, Mr. Keith ! " 

He shrugged his shoulders. " It was pretty bad," he 
returned drily ; " but a man has broad shoulders and can 
bear a good deal, and I had made up my mind that noth- 
ing should induce me to quarrel with her mother and 
brother. But they did not spare me." 

" I am afraid not." 

" I did not answer them for a long time, and then I said 
a queer thing. ' Mr. Warburton,’ I remarked, ' I am 
thankful that you are not my vicar, for I could never have 
listened to a sermon of yours after this.’ I must have 
hit him there, for I saw him turn very red and look sud- 
denly confused. But his mother put her hand on his arm. 
' Never mind. Gale, a disappointed man is not likely to 
measure his words.’ And yet all this time they had been 
loading me with insults. 

" Such an odd idea came to me. Miss Gresham. I could 
not help thinking what a cruel death stoning must have 
been, unless a stone soon found the vital part, and yet 
what a lot of people willingly took part in the game. 
For it stunned me a bit that Christian gentlefolk should 
be talking in this hard fashion ’’ — and Mr. Keith’s voice 
was so full of concentrated pain that the tears rose to 
Elinor’s eyes. Ah, they had made him suffer, and it hurt 
still ; it was well that Agnes should be spared this. But 
when she hinted at this, he assured her that he had refused 
to tell his own mother what had passed between him and 
the Warburtons. 

" Least said is soonest mended, and there is no good in 
inflaming an angry wound. I am not denying that they 
hurt me cruelly, but they could not induce me to yield an 
inch. 


A Man Has Broad Shoulders 239 


'' I told them that this was a free country, and that 
Miss Warburton was of an age to judge for herself ; that 
I would take no answer from any one but her ; that there 
was but one woman in the world for me, and I would 
be faithful to her as long as I lived; the rest is for 
her to decide. And then I wished them good morning. 
I could not have trusted myself in that room another 
moment.’’ 

''And now you will wait and try to be patient ? ” 

" Needs must when the devil drives,” he said hope- 
lessly ; " but I am not sure about the patience.” 

" Mr. Keith, Agnes told her mother that nothing would 
induce her to give you up.” Elinor had not intended to 
say this, but the sight of his wretchedness was too much 
for her soft heart. 

Then there was a sudden gleam of renewed hope in 
his eyes. 

" Did she say that, the darling ! ” he murmured in a 
broken voice. " It was not that I distrusted her affection, 
but I thought those two would be too strong for her — 
that they would force her to give me up. Thank you a 
thousand times for telling me this. Miss Gresham ; now I 
will have more heart for the day’s work. Mother has 
been at me to do up 'The Chimney-Corner,’ and next week 
we are to begin alterations. She thinks it will take off 
my mind a little. When a man’s down, there is nothing 
like a mother for comforting. My dear good old mother, 
I wonder if there is a lady in the land to beat her ! Well, 
I must be going back.” And then with a warm grasp of 
his hand he was leaving her, when a sudden thought oc- 
curred to him. " You will be going to the Hall again in 
a day or two ? ” 

" I am afraid not. Mrs. Warburton does not seem will- 
ing for me to be with Agnes just now, and she asked me 
not to come for a few days.” 

" I feared this ” — in a low tone. But he said no more, 
and Elinor hastened home. No, there was nothing to be 
done ; he must dree his weird with what patience he could 
find, and Agnes must fight her battle unaided. 

"Why, how tired you look, Nora ! ” exclaimed Bride. 
"You ought to have told Joe to call for you; it is too 


240 


No Friend Like a Sister 


hot for these long walks. And how did you find poor 
Agnes ? '' 

I found her complaining of faintness and looking ex- 
tremely ill/’ returned Elinor truthfully. I saw Mrs. 
Warburton for a quarter of an hour, and she was not as 
gracious as usual. She said Agnes was not fit for talking, 
and that she thought it would be better for her to be 
quiet for a few days ; so I shall not go again until I am 
invited.” 

''Well, I do call that too bad/’ returned Bride indig- 
nantly ; " as though she does not know that your visits 
are Agnes’s chief pleasures ! Why should the poor thing 
be dull because the heat has upset her ? ” But Elinor 
had no answer for this, so she went off to change her 
dress for the evening. 

Bride went to Crow Farm a day or two afterwards, but 
for the first time she did not enjoy her visit. 

" Mrs. Keith had seemed out of spirits,” she told Elinor 
on her return, " and had owned frankly that she was very 
much worried, but she had offered no further explana- 
tion.” "The world would be a paradise, Mrs. Gresham my 
dear,” she had remarked vaguely, as she brought in a jug 
of yellow cream from the dairy, " if it weren’t for the 
men and women that live in it. Human nature is terribly 
aggravating at times, and always has been, since the day 
Cain murdered that sweet-tempered brother of his; and 
as for thorns and briers and crosses, they are ready to 
every one’s hands. When people begin to practise what 
they preach, and to learn what charity means, there may 
be some hope of improvement. But there, as I tell my 
Ham, it is a stiff-necked generation, each one trying to be 
first, and the devil take the hindmost ; and it is a haughty 
spirit that goes before a fall, my dear.” " Really,” con- 
tinued Bride, " the dear old thing was a little complex 
and difficult to understand.” 

" I suppose you saw Mr. Keith ? ” 

" Yes, he came in for tea; but he certainly did not add 
to the cheerfulness, for he scarcely spoke a dozen sen- 
tences, and looked unusually glum. So I am afraid he 
is worried too ; for Mrs. Keith was fussing round him as 
though he were a sick chick. ' Isn’t there some sort of 


A Man Has Broad Shoulders 241 


text, Ham,’ she saicPin her funny way, ‘ that he that 
doth not eat, neither must he work ? ’ and that did bring 
a smile to his face. 

'' ‘ I think you have got it the wrong way up, mother,’ 
he said drily ; but he took another sandwich, though I be- 
lieve Jock got half of it.” 

Two or three evenings after this, Elinor encountered 
Hugh Milner. 

She and Bride had been spending the afternoon at 
Sowerby with the Thurstons. They were pleasant people, 
and they lived in an old-fashioned red brick house that 
was known as Marley Grange. It was about a stone’s 
throw from the Vicarage. One of the daughters had just 
become engaged to the vicar. Rev. Neville Brooke, and it 
was understood that the young couple would soon be 
married. 

Bride had decided to go home by way of Sweet Hawes, 
as she was anxious to see her godson. But Elinor, who 
had been playing croquet all the afternoon, felt too tired 
for the long walk. So they parted company, and a little 
later she met Hugh Milner. He jumped off his bicycle at 
once, and they went on together. 

‘‘ I have not seen you for an age,” he said, looking at 
her as though her fair comeliness were a pleasant sight. 
There was always something so harmonious and attractive 
to him in Elinor’s personality. I heard Mrs. Gresham 
was at Crow Farm the other evening, but I was at Mex- 
field.” And then his voice changed. You have not been 
there lately ? ” 

No, not for some time, I think ; we have been so very 
gay.” 

“ You will be gayer next month, I expect. By the bye, 
I wanted to tell you that my father and Kathleen are to 
arrive the day after to-morrow.” 

''And you have to turn out ? ” 

" Oh, I have found very snug quarters close by. I 
want the dear old man to have a good time. Kathleen 
says that he is like a schoolboy looking forward to the 
holidays ; he has begun to pack already.” And there was 
a tender, humorous look on Hugh’s face. " That is just 
his way; he likes to begin packing a week beforehand. 

i6 


242 


No Friend Like a Sister 


He says anticipation is half the pleasure in life, and that 
a true epicure will always prolong his pleasure in this 
way.” 

‘‘ I hope you intend to bring him to see us — Kathleen 
needs no special invitation.” There was a faint touch of 
reproach in Elinor’s voice that brought a quick flush to 
the young man’s face. 

'' You are very good,” he returned. Yes, Kitty and I 
will certainly bring him to Wildcroft ; he is most anxious 
to make your acquaintance.” 

I think I told you when we last met that my sister 
Frances is to arrive next Tuesday. I am going to have a 
series of ‘ Sycamore Teas,’ as we call them, on Thursdays 
during August, and I should like to have you all for the 
first one.” 

'' I accept with pleasure for the Milner trio,” he re- 
turned frankly ; but I expect Kathleen will be over be- 
fore that. Miss Gresham, have you heard that we are 
going to start the alterations at ‘ The Chimney-Corner ’ 
next week ? ” 

Yes, Mr. Keith told me.” Then rather a serious look 
cable to Hugh Milner’s face. 

'' I am afraid Keith has some trouble bothering him 
just now ; he has been very down and unlike himself the 
last week, and I can see Mrs. Keith is a bit anxious.” 

I am very sorry,” returned Elinor, and then she 
stopped, for Hugh was looking at her a little keenly, and 
she was unwilling to give Hammond Keith away. He 
and Hugh Milner were such chums, surely he must have 
some suspicion of the truth! 

'' I see you know all about it,” observed Hugh quietly ; 

but you need not be afraid, I am not going to ask any 
troublesome questions. When Keith needs my help, he 
will find me ready; we quite understand each other on 
that point. I would as soon pick a lock as try to force 
another man’s confidence.” 

‘‘ I think you are right,” was the low answer. It was 
not the first time that Elinor had been struck with the 
straightforward, honourable feeling that Hugh Milner 
always showed. He seemed to have a finer code of honour 
than most young men of his age. If he had guessed 


A Man Has Broad Shoulders 243 


Hammond Keith’s secret he would give her no hint or sign 
that he had done so. Presently he drifted off to another 
subject. 

I saw your friend Miss Warburton yesterday,” he ob- 
served ; '' she was driving in the direction of Mexfield. 
Mrs. Warburton was with her. Keith had just joined me, 
and she bowed to us both. I thought she looked ex- 
tremely delicate, as though she had been through some 
illness.” 

'' I am afraid she is very far from strong,” returned 
Elinor. Mr. Keith was with you, I think you said? ” 

‘‘ Yes, we were just going to ‘ The Chimney-Corner.’ ” 
But Hugh forbore to add a few trifling incidents which 
had not escaped him. 

He had noticed that Mrs. Warburton had turned her 
head aside that she might not see them, but that her 
daughter had bent forward almost eagerly, and had looked 
full at his companion; and that Hammond Keith’s face 
had turned quite pale beneath its tan as he lifted his straw 
hat, and that for some minutes he had spoken no word. 

Elinor was thankful for even this crumb of informa- 
tion, for no news had reached her from the Hall. She 
was glad that Agnes should have had that momentary 
pleasure. It was something to know that she was well 
enough to drive, and she felt grateful to Hugh for telling 
her. Somehow she felt more cheerful than usual this 
evening. She had had a pleasant afternoon, and though 
she was tired, the walk seemed to refresh her. Perhaps 
it was Hugh Milner’s congenial society ; for after a time 
they grew quite merry, and Elinor’s charming laugh was 
heard more than once. 

Hugh accompanied her to Wildcroft, and Elinor in- 
sisted that he should come in and wait for Bride. They 
could sit on the lawn and watch for her, as she would 
certainly take the field path home. 

Hugh Milner could not refuse so tempting an invita- 
tion, and the half-hour that followed was one of intense 
enjoyment to him. 

Elinor’s sweet personality had never been so alluring 
to him. Her sunny temperament and gentle placidity had 
never been so apparent. “ If she had only known my 


244 


No Friend Like a Sister 


mother ! If my darling mother had only known her ! ” 
he said to himself, and a sigh rose to his lips. 

Elinor turned her face to him. “ Why do you sigh ? ’’ 
she said gently ; ‘‘ one ought not to have sad thoughts on 
such a heavenly evening. Look, do you see that gleam of 
white? — that is Mrs. Gresham’s gown. Shall we go and 
meet her ? ” But Hugh rose reluctantly from his chair. 

The charm was broken — they were no longer alone. 
But Elinor, unconscious of his feelings, talked on cheer- 
fully. 

Bride was charmed to see Hugh. '' Now you have 
come at last to see us, you must stay to supper,” she said, 
in quite a peremptory voice. And Hugh was in no mood 
to refuse. 

After supper, they went out in the garden again. The 
moonlight was shining on the meadows. They sauntered 
to the little churchyard, and stood for some time leaning 
against the gate. Hugh was talking of his old life — of 
the little home in Acacia Road that was so shabby and 
yet so full of love, of his father’s struggles, and then of 
his mother — and the two women listened to him with 
breathless interest. Was it the moonlight, or were there 
occasional tears in Bride’s dark eyes? Bride was always 
emotional. Once Hugh, as he talked, put his hand on the 
gate, and inadvertently rested it on Elinor’s. 

I beg your pardon ! ” he exclaimed, ashamed of his 
awkwardness. But Elinor only smiled and coloured a 
little. That warm, strong young hand that touched hers 
seemed to affect her strangely. A little thrill seemed to 
pass through her. Her companion noticed it. 

'' It is time for you ladies to go in,” he observed seri- 
ously ; the dews are heavy to-night. I have kept you 
too long already with my thoughtless chattering.” But 
Bride would not hear of this for a moment. 

I think it was so nice your telling us about your 
mother,” she said in her friendly way ; she must have 
been such a dear, sweet woman. I never had the happi- 
ness of knowing mine ” — and Bride’s voice was full of 
emotion. 

Hugh took his leave after this, and Elinor went soon 
after to her room. But she was strangely wakeful that 


A Man Has Broad Shoulders 245 


night. I wonder why I felt so happy this evening/’ 
she said to herself. '' Was it the thought of next Tues- 
day, and my dear Frances? But life seemed so full of 
interest all at once, and the world such a good place after 

all. And I think he was happy too. I wonder ” 

Elinor never finished her sentence, but her cheek burned 
in the darkness. Some subtle intuition told her that if 
Hugh Milner came rarely to Wildcroft, it was because he 
feared to come often — that already his young heart was 
turning to her as the magnet turns to the pole. This 
was what the inward voice whispered to her, but she 
refused to listen. I am too old for these ridiculous 
fancies,” she said to herself severely, as she composed 
herself to sleep. 


XXX 


“Where There’s a Will” 


Blending their souFs sublimest needs 
With tasks of every day, 

They went about their gravest deeds 
As noble boys at play. 

Houghton. 

The weak thing, weaker than a child, becomes strong one day, 
if it be a True Thing. — Carlyle. 

It was in the midst of all these undercurrents of human 
interest and mingled pleasure and pain that Frances 
Gresham arrived at Wildcroft for her much-needed sum- 
mer holiday. Bride had, by her own wish, driven over to 
Masked to meet her ; but long before the appointed time 
Elinor and Rufus were at the white gate. 

'A flush of pleasure came to Frances' dark face at the 
sight of the tall slim figure in grey; but Bride refused 
to stop, so she could only wave her hand in greeting as 
they drove past. But as she sprang to the ground at the 
porch door, Elinor was beside her. 

The usual warm kisses passed between them; then 
Elinor slipped her hand through her sister's arm. 

‘‘You are tired, Frances — do not dare to deny it; you 
must come up to your room and rest." But Frances 
pleaded for a moment's delay. 

“ Yes, I am tired," she returned frankly ; “ the heat has 
been excessive in town the last two days, and I have been 
envying Gussie her trip among the Norwegian fiords. 
But I cannot tear myself away from that view. How 
sweet and peaceful it looks, and, oh, Nora, what a change 
in the garden ! It really looks beautiful ! " And Frances' 
eyes rested first on the bright flower borders and smooth 
turf, and then at the gay little encampment under the 
sycamore tree. “ Think of a whole month at Wildcroft, 
with nothing to do but to talk to you two dears, .’^doming. 


Where There ’s a Will 


247 


noon, and night/' And Frances stretched out her arms 
with a luxuriant movement of weariness and pleasure. 
Then she patted Rufus's shaggy head, and picking up 
Scrap, who was whining in ecstasy at her feet, she sig- 
nified her readiness to follow Elinor. 

The room was sweet with flowers, and the sun-blind 
kept it comparatively cool, but Frances flatly refused to 
take possession of the comfortable couch by the window. 
‘‘ She would get rid of the dust of her journey," she said, 
‘‘ and then she would join them on the lawn. Yes, she 
would be glad of a cup of tea, but she had had a good 
luncheon at Rugby." And then Elinor withdrew. 

Frances looks very thin," she observed to Bride ; I 
can see that she has been overworking again. She has 
got ink stains under her eyes " — a favourite Gresham ex- 
pression. 

“Oh, yes, she owned that she was awfully tired," re- 
turned Bride, “and that it was high time for her to have 
a rest. She had a hard day yesterday, and has been up 
since four this morning. I think we had better have 
supper half-an-hour earlier, and then she can go to bed." 

“ Yes, and Rachel shall unpack for her." And then 
Elinor went to the house to tell Jenny to bring out tea. 

The day before she and Bride had an unexpected 
pleasure. Jenny was just setting the tea-table under the 
sycamofe when the white gate swung back, and two fig- 
ures appeared leading their bicycles — a girl in a mauve 
cambric, and a grey-haired, delicate-looking man in a 
broad-brimmed hat. 

“ Why, ther^ is Kathleen ! " exclaimed Bride joyfully, 
for she was a friendly little soul and loved to welcome her 
friends. “And oh how like Mr. Milner is to his son ! " 

And as Kathleen proudly introduced her father, Elinor 
certainly echoed Bride's words, for it seemed to her that 
she was looking at Hugh Milner suddenly grown old. 

“ I should have recognised you if we had met in the 
road," she assured him seriously; but she was a little 
startled when Hugh's boyish laugh answered her. 

“Am I so like my boy as all that, in spite of grey hairs 
and wrinkles? Kitty, I hope you heard Miss Gresham's 
compliment ; but we must not tell Hugh." 


248 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Why not, father ? Hugh would be quite proud to 
hear it; he is always pleased when people say he is like 
you/’ But Mr. Milner shook his head with a smile. 
Elinor looked at him with quiet pleasure; she had fully 
expected to like Hugh’s father, but the reality certainly 
exceeded her anticipations. 

It was evident to her that in his youth Mr. Milner 
must have been handsomer than his son, for even now it 
was a beautiful face, though prematurely aged and worn 
by the storm and stress of life. 

The thick grey hair was as fine and soft as a child’s, 
and there was an expression of mingled gentleness and 
refinement which strongly appealed to her. He was not 
tall, and he stooped a little, and there was a slight careless- 
ness apparent in his dress, but no one could have failed 
to see that he was a gentleman. He had evidently the 
impulsiveness which so often accompani^ the artistic 
temperament, and though possibly his nariwe' was not a 
strong one, it was Certainly lovable. 

If Elinor was so favourably impressed with Hugh’s 
father, it was soon evident that her liking was recipro- 
cated. ^ 

MiSs Gresham is my ideal of an English gentle- 
woman,” observed John Milner to his daughter as they 
rode slowly up the lane. But to himself he said a strange 
thing. ‘‘She is the first woman who has reminded me of 
Janet ; they are not in the least alike, but she has the same 
restful, harmonious way with her that my darling Janet 
had.” 

It had been a very happy little tea-party. “ If only 
my dear Miss Frances were here!” Kathleen had ex- 
claimed once, “ it would be simply perfect. But I shall 
see her on Thursday.” And then Bride began talking 
about Crow Farm. 

“ Father says he was never so comfortable in his life,” 
remarked Kathleen ; “ he and Mrs. Keith are like old 
friends already. He does so delight in her stories. He 
calls her a humorist.” 

“ I never met nicer people,” returned Mr. Milner en- 
thusiastically. “ Hugh is in clover, as I tell him. Keith 
is a bit grave for his age, but he is a fine fellow ; he works 


Where There’s a Will 


249 


harder than most men, but he does not neglect his read- 
ing. I have had two or three nice talks with him, and 
he seems very well-informed. Now, I never could read 
Carlyle myself, but he tells me that he has read most of 
his books.’’ 

Oh yes, Mr. Keith is a great admirer of Carlyle and 
Ruskin,” returned Elinor, smiling ; but he likes Thack- 
eray and Dickens too.” 

Mr. Milner rubbed up his grey hair in a boyish way. 
“ Well, he is a wonderful fellow. Never heard of a 
farmer finding time for all that hard reading. If I take 
up a book in the evening, I always fall asleep over it — 
Kitty would tell you that.” 

‘‘ Father’s so dead tired, you see,” returned Kathleen, 
and he is not as young as Mr. Keith, and the choir boys 
at St. James’s take so much out of him. But he is going 
to have a good time now. Miss Gresham. To-morrow 
Mr. Keith is going to drive us all over to Leathwaite; 
you know Hugh has some new work over there, and he 
wants father to see the church and the town. Mr. Keith 
has business there too, but we are all to meet at the Three 
Anchors for dinner. We are both looking forward to it, 
and it will be so delightful to have Hugh with us.” 

‘‘ It is not so bad getting old after all,” returned Mr. 
Milner whimsically, ‘‘ when one has good children. But, 
my little girl, Hugh will be looking out for us; you 
know, he is coming back early.” And at this hint Kath- 
leen rather reluctantly rose to take leave. 

That evening, as they sat at supper. Bride said sud- 
denly, ‘‘ Nora, doesn’t it seem strange that Mr. Keith has 
not fallen in love with Kathleen? She is such a nice- 
looking girl, and so exactly suited for a farmer’s wife.” 

'' I don’t think the idea has occurred to either of them,” 
returned Elinor sedately. She knew Bride had no suspi- 
cion of the truth, that Agnes’s fair face was Hammond 
Keith’s ideal of womanly loveliness. Pretty, dark-eyed 
Kathleen had never excited more than a momentary ad- 
miration in the young farmer’s breast. He liked her; 
she was a favourite of his mother’s, and she was Hugh 
Milner’s sister, so he was always pleased to welcome her 
to Crow Farm. 


250 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Well, it is very provoking,’' went on Bride, ‘‘ for he is 
certainly standing in his own light. Some one ought to 
give him a hint ” ; for, in spite of her own matrimonial 
troubles. Bride was an inveterate matchmaker. 

Elinor was recalling this speech with some amusement 
when she was roused by a hand on her shoulder, and there 
was Frances, renovated and brushed and smiling, but still 
with a heaviness in the deep-set eyes which spoke of long 
fatigue and strain patiently and bravely borne. 

There, I have changed my frock, and feel clean and 
tidy,” she exclaimed ; '' and now I am going to drink my 
tea, while Bride and you talk to me, and to-morrow I will 
have my innings.” And this little speech told Elinor 
more than anything how sorely Frances needed rest. But 
she took the hint, and Bride and she vied with each other 
in telling pleasant little bits of news. How Joe Twitchett’s 
boy was to be baptized in the ruins the very next Sunday 
that ever was ” ; and how Bride had made the sweetest 
christening robe for the occasion. And then they told 
Frances about the Sycamore Teas,” and how they were 
all invited the following week to a garden party at Marley 
Grange, and various other items of general interest, until 
Elinor gave Bride an amused look — Frances was asleep. 

But she was very wide-awake at supper, and talked 
with her usual animation. 

Nora,” she said that night, as Elinor followed her to 
her room to see after her little comforts, I wonder what 
you have been doing with yourself, for you look years 
younger. I have been thinking so all the evening. Why, 
I look a middle-aged woman beside you.” 

You will have to consult our new physician. Dr. 
Greenfield,” remarked Elinor quaintly, ‘‘ the rest cure is 
what you require,” and she stroked Frances’ thin cheek 
caressingly. But there, I am not going to deprive you 
of your beauty sleep,” and Elinor with Spartan-like firm- 
ness tore herself away. But every time she woke in the 
stillness of the summer night she smiled at the thought 
that only the passage separated her from Frances. But 
the next morning, when Elinor entered the dining-room, 
her face was a little clouded. 

Oh, Frances,” she said in a vexed voice, is it not 


Where There’s a Will 


251 


provoking? I have just had a note from Agnes, asking 
me to go over to luncheon. She has no idea that you 
have arrived and that this is your first day.'' 

‘‘ But you can easily explain things," observed Bride. 
‘‘ Tell her that it is quite impossible for you to leave 
Frances, and ask her to fix another day. Joe can easily 
ride over with your note." But Elinor shook her head. 

I am afraid I must go," she returned in a worried 
voice. “Agnes tells me that she is going away almost 
directly, and that this is the only chance of our meeting 
for months. She wants me to be at the Hall by twelve, 
that we may get a little talk before luncheon. She says 
she has so much to tell me." 

“ Oh dear, what a worriment, as Mrs. Keith would 
say " — and Bride shrugged her shoulders. “ I don't see 
how you can get out of it, Nora." 

Then Frances, who was shrewd enough to see that 
there was more than met the eye, and that Elinor was 
more serious than usual, interposed in her cheerful way. 

“ Certainly you must go and see your friend, Nora. 
Miss Warburton has been ill, you told me. Of course I 
should love to have your company, but Bride and I will 
be perfectly happy for a few hours. I want to begin my 
new piece of fancy-work, and Bride shall sit and gossip 
to me of all the affairs of the neighbourhood. And after 
luncheon I intend to put myself into that delicious ham- 
mock and pretend to read ; but the midges and the gnats 
and all the little humming creatures will know better than 
that. So you see I am going to act on Dr. Greenfield's 
advice," and Frances gave a knowing little nod of her 
head. Even in this short time she looked more like her- 
self, for her long night's rest had refreshed her. 

“ Well, I suppose I must go," returned Elinor, stifling 
a sigh ; “ and as it is so hot, Bride, I must get Joe to drive 
me over. Mrs. Warburton will not expect me to remain 
to tea — they always have coffee after luncheon — so I shall 
tell him to fetch me at half-past three. I shall probably 
be home before Frances has finished her siesta." 

Frances smiled approval, and Bride exclaimed, “ Why, 
that will just fit in nicely, for after tea I am going over 
to Sweet Hawes to take little Jack his things, and Mrs. 


252 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Twitchett is expecting me. Now don’t pretend you are 
pleased, Nora, for I know you are dying to get Frances 
to yourself, and two’s company and three’s none, mes- 
dames.” And Bride dropped a low curtsey and then went 
off singing in her bright, girlish way. 

‘‘ Dear Bride, how sweet she looks,” murmured 
Frances, as the deep rich voice rang through the passage; 
but she is as much a child as ever.'" 

Yes, but as good as gold,” returned Elinor; and then 
for a little while they talked of Lyall ; and Frances, who 
had just received a long letter from him, had a good many 
interesting things to tell her sister. 

When Elinor reached the Hall, Arnold received her 
with a pleased expression, and took her up at once to her 
young mistress’s sitting-room. 

Agnes was working by the open window. She wel- 
comed Elinor as affectionately as ever. She was looking 
a little less drawn and ill, but she was still very thin, 
and there were dark shadows under her eyes. 

‘‘ It was good of you to come so early. Mother has 
promised to leave us alone until luncheon. She knew I 
would much rather tell you about things myself.” 

‘‘ You are going away, Agnes — tell me, are you glad or 
sorry ? ” Elinor put the question with some abruptness, 
but Agnes hesitated for a moment. 

‘‘ I can hardly tell you. I think I am glad for some 
reasons ; only I wish I were not going so far. Life is not 
very enjoyable at present. I have a feeling that I am a 
sort of prisoner. Mother never seems to like my going 
out alone. I think she is afraid that I might meet Ham- 
mond. Do you know, I saw him one day ” — and Agnes’s 
eyes brightened as she related that little episode. 

But you could not speak to him ? ” 

‘‘ No, but we could see each other. And oh, Elinor, 
such a strange thing happened a few nights afterwards. 
You know on hot nights I always sleep with my window 
wide open, and on that Thursday night I had thrown it 
up as usual. Just about midnight — I had not been asleep 
— I thought I heard a faint sound on the gravel path, and 
then something white or grey seemed to fly into the room. 
I thought it was some night-bird ; only there was a sudden 


Where There ’s a Will 


253 


little thud on the floor. I lay for a few minutes, then 
my curiosity was too much for me. There was no sign 
of anything outside, but I could plainly see a small white 
object on the carpet. I lighted a candle and examined it. 
There was a folded handkerchief with a smooth pebble 
inside as though to weight it, and in the fold was a letter 
from Hammond ” — and here Agnes suddenly blushed and 
dimpled like a girl. ‘‘ Such a dear letter — so strong and 
comforting and loving. He told me that he had found 
out which was my bedroom window, and that he knew 
that I slept with it open, and that he meant to take his 
opportunity to throw his letter in. Wasn’t it clever of 
him, Elinor ? ” And it was evident that his boyish feat 
had given Agnes great pleasure. 


XXXI 


Cousin Beth 


The true strength of every human soul is to be dependent on 
as many nobler as it can discern, and to be depended upon by 
as many inferior as it can reach. — Ruskin. 


What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for 
each other? — George Eliot. 

Agnes seemed overcome by the tender remembrance. 
In all her quiet virginal life nothing so exciting or ro- 
mantic had ever happened to her; but the next moment 
she roused herself. 

I must not waste time, for I have so much to tell you. 
Elinor, did I ever mention to you a cousin of ours — Beth 
Warburton? 

No, I think not. I certainly do not seem to remember 
the name.” 

'' She was my father^s first cousin, and mother and she 
are great friends, and she generally stays with us when 
she comes to England. She has a flat in Florence, where 
she always spends the winter ; and she has also a charm- 
ing villa near Spezzia, amongst the olive woods and vine- 
yards, where she passes the summer months. She is very 
rich, rather eccentric, and extremely strong-minded, but 
she is a kind-hearted woman in her way. Mother de- 
lights in her ; she says she is so amusing.” 

'' I suppose she is not young ? ” 

'' No ; Cousin Beth is about fifty, and has never had a 
week’s illness in her life. Mother and I stayed with her 
about three years ago. She is rather odd and original, but 
she is very good to the peasants. I believe the poor 
people adore her.” 

'' Do you really mean that you are going to stay with 
her ? ” Then Agnes nodded gravely. 

I have not been well, Elinor, and mother sent for Dr. 


Cousin Beth 


255 


Gibson, and they put their heads together and mutually 
agreed that a change would do me good. Mother and 
Gale are going to Wales soon, but for several reasons 
they did not wish me to accompany them, so mother wrote 
to Cousin Beth.’’ 

“ I suppose she told her about things ? ” 

'' Oh, that I cannot tell you, but I strongly suspect that 
she has done so. I know Cousin Beth’s answer came by 
return of post. She sent me a very kind little note, and 
asked me to come at once, and said that she would 
take every care of me. It really was a very nice letter, 
and mother said that she wished me to go, and that 
settled it.” 

Dear Agnes, I really think the change will do you 
good. Anything will be better than moping yourself to 
death in this way.” 

Oh, there I fully agree with you,” returned Agnes ; 
'' and I think that, for a time at least, I shall be thankful 
to get away. You see mother and Gale do not get over 
things easily, and their manner always conveys the im- 
pression that I am in disgrace, and that they cannot trust 
me. Mother tries not to let me see this, but she keeps a 
sort of strict surveillance over my movements. She asks 
me to drive with her nearly every afternoon. Of course, 
I understand her motives. She is afraid that Hammond 
will contrive to see me, and that is why she wants me 
to go away. Elinor, I shall have one comfort at Spezzia — 
I shall be able to write to him, and to have his letters.” 

''Are you sure of that, dear ? ” 

" Quite sure,” returned Agnes with unexpected firm- 
ness. " I shall submit to no interference or surveillance 
on Cousin Beth’s part. If there is any such attempt on 
her side I shall refuse to stay. But of course I shall 
manage things myself. I shall always take my letters 
to the post office, and I shall tell Hammond that his are 
to be left until called for, and that he must not write 
oftener than once a week. How I shall live on those 
letters, Elinor ! ” 

"And you will get strong and not fret ? How long will 
you be away ? ” 

" I am afraid, for three months at least. We shall go 


256 


No Friend Like a Sister 


to Florence at the beginning of October, and as Cousin 
Beth has to come to England early in November, mother 
wants me to return with her. They have found me a 
travelling-companion for most of the way, and Gale will 
take me to London on Thursday and see me off. Elinor, 
I have written to Hammond to tell him all about this, and 
I shall manage to post my letter at Victoria — that will be 
soon enough.'’ 

Elinor listened to all this with secret surprise. It was 
evident to her that Agnes had no intention of giving up 
her lover — that she was only waiting until she was 
stronger to mature her plans. She was also convinced in 
her own mind that Mrs. Warburton, who was an ex- 
tremely clever woman, would have confided the whole 
truth to her cousin, and implored her help in averting this 
disastrous mesalliance; and that if Miss Warburton were 
the strong-minded sort of person Agnes represented her 
to be, it might be difficult to elude her vigilance. Even 
at the Villa St. Lucia poor Agnes might find herself sub- 
ject to espionage and suspicion. But when Elinor tried 
to hint this, Agnes became quite excited. 

I hope not, Elinor," she said quickly, or I am afraid 
Cousin Beth and I will not be good friends long. Of 
course she will side with mother and Gale, and will think 
me a poor weak fool. Beth has no tolerance for what 
she calls love scrapes. She is a man-hater — at least, she 
professes to be so — and she is extremely unsympathetic 
on such matters. I shall simply refuse to discuss anything 
with her ; and if she persists, for she is very obstinate, I 
shall leave the room." 

They talked a little more, and then Agnes sent some 
messages to Bride. She seemed rather taken aback when 
she heard Frances was at Wildcroft. 

'' Oh, Elinor," she exclaimed in a distressed voice, '' and 
I have spoilt your first day with her! But I had no idea 
you were expecting her so soon. But it was dear of you 
to come to me." 

‘‘ Do you think I should have refused " and then 

the luncheon gong startled them before Elinor could finish 
her sentence. 

Gale Warburton met them in the hall ; Mrs. Warburton 


Cousin Beth 


257 


was already in the dining-room. She welcomed Elinor as 
cordially as ever, and seemed determined to make herself 
pleasant to her guest. Mr. Warburton was in an absent 
mood, and took less notice of her than usual. 

Mrs. Warburton darted a keen look at her daughter 
as they sat down. 

I suppose Agnes has told you all her delightful plans 
for the next three months,'' she observed. '' My cousin's 
villa at Spezzia is simply perfect. It stands very high, 
and has a lovely view of the sea and the wooded moun- 
tains. Agnes, do you remember our drive three years 
ago, on our way to St. Lucia, through olive forests and 
avenues of acacia trees, chestnut woods — oh, such 
scenes ? " 

‘‘ Oh yes, I remember it well," returned Agnes ; but 
she spoke without enthusiasm. 

But Mrs. Warburton was not to be damped. She 
launched into vivid descriptions of the life at the Villa 
St. Lucia ; she told droll stories of Cousin Beth's eccentric 
ways. 

I do not know a more delightful companion than Beth 
Warburton," she went on. It is impossible to feel dull 
in her company — she has such a sense of humour. She 
will say droll things with the gravest face; and yet she 
is the most level-headed, sensible woman I know. I tell 
Agnes she is in luck's way." 

As Mrs. Warburton uttered this bland speech, Gale 
Warburton gave his sister a long, searching look. 

It is to be hoped that Agnes properly appreciates her 
blessings," he said drily. Agnes coloured perceptibly at 
his tone. 

After luncheon they adjourned to a shady corner in the 
garden to take their coflfee, and Gale invited Elinor to 
look at his mother's new fernery. Elinor accompanied 
him a little reluctantly. It was strange, even to herself, 
how she objected to a tefe-d-tete with the vicar; but he 
seemed, as usual, unaware of her unwillingness, as he 
stalked rather solemnly beside her. 

‘‘ My mother rather amused me during luncheon," he 
said abruptly, as they stood in front of the fernery ; she 
has made a masterly move, and is exceedingly proud of 
17 


258 


No Friend Like a Sister 


herself, but I cannot help wondering myself how a clever 
woman like Miss Warburton will get on for three whole 
months with a person of such limited intelligence as 
Agnes/' 

It was the old disparaging tone in which he always 
spoke of his sister, and Elinor felt indignant. 

I cannot endorse this, Mr. Warburton," she returned. 

In my opinion Agnes is far from limited ; she is simply 
rather timid and retiring, and so quiet that people have to 
discover her excellencies." 

Still waters run deep," he remarked. You are good 
at defending your friends. Miss Gresham, and Agnes 
ought to be grateful to you for whitewashing her so 
thoroughly, but I am afraid that my mother and I hold 
very different opinions." 

‘‘ I do not want to discuss your sister with you, Mr. 
Warburton!" exclaimed Elinor, stung by the hard, sa- 
tirical tone, which seemed to convey to her without 
audible language that he considered Agnes far from 
straightforward, and indeed guilty of weak duplicity. 

I am thankful to see her a little better, and I sincerely 
hope that her visit will re-establish her health. Oh, 
there comes Peggy," in a tone of relief ; I had no 
idea that it was half-past three " ; and then they walked 
slowly back. 

Mr. Warburton had made no response to Elinor's little 
outburst of indignation, but his face wore an expression 
of quiet amusement. The vicar was always a little 
amused as well as surprised if any one presumed to differ 
from him. Probably he was thinking that Miss Gresham 
was looking exceedingly well, and that her indignant flush 
was rather becoming than otherwise, for he took no um- 
brage at her sudden petulance. 

It was well that Elinor and Agnes had had that quiet 
hour before luncheon, for their leave-taking was a brief 
one. 

I hope you will write to me sometimes, Agnes," 
Elinor said, as they exchanged a parting kiss. But she 
was sorry that she made that remark when Mrs. War- 
burton's crisp voice interposed. 

■'I hope Agnes will not write more letters than she 


Cousin Beth 


259 


can help, Miss Gresham ; I want her to be out in the air 
as much as possible. I have begged Miss Warburton 
not to encourage her to mope indoors.’' 

Perhaps there was a warning note in Mrs. Warburton’s 
smooth voice that only her daughter detected, for Agnes 
said rather quickly — “ I shall certainly find time to write 
to Elinor — one does not generally neglect one’s friends 
when one is away.” And then Mrs. Warburton said no 
more. 

Agnes did not stay to see her friend drive off; she 
went slowly back into the house. 

“ How absurd of Mrs. Warburton to try and control 
Agnes as though she were a child ! ” thought Elinor. '' I 
see that she is unwilling for us to correspond much. I 
am certain from her manner and from Mr. Warburton’s 
also that they intend Miss Warburton to mount guard 
over her.” And here Elinor shrugged her shoulders with 
an air of disgust; the whole thing was too mediaeval for 
her taste, too dramatic and intolerant for modern up-to- 
date society. 

Frances had finished her siesta and looked as fresh as 
a daisy when Elinor joined them at the little tea-table. 

“Now I have done my duty and am going to enjoy 
myself,” she observed brightly ; and then until Bride left 
them she contented herself with giving them an account 
of all Agnes’s plans for the autumn. “ I really think it 
will do her a world of good,” she continued seriously; 
“ and if only Miss Warburton is nice to her, she ought 
to enjoy such a lovely place.” 

As soon as Bride had vanished into the house and 
Rachel had carried off the tea-tray, Frances looked at 
her sister expectantly. “ Well, Nora,” she said quietly, 
“ we have no one but the midges to attend to us, and they 
are by no means curious, so you can unfold your Tylcote 
Hall budget ” — a speech which rather surprised Elinor, 
and made her open her eyes somewhat widely. 

“How do you know I have a budget, Frances?” she 
asked ; but her sister laughed in an amused way. 

“ Your allusions to Agnes have been rather mysterious 
of late, and you have taken no notice of my very straight- 
forward questions ; you have hinted vaguely at some trou- 


260 


No Friend Like a Sister 


ble; now I hope you are going to enlighten me fully/’ 
And thus encouraged, Elinor started with her story from 
the very beginning. 

It was Frances’ turn to be surprised now. A look of 
amazement came to her face, and once or twice an ejac- 
ulation escaped her — “ Well, if ever I heard the likes of 
that,” a familiar expression dating from their nursery 
days — but it was evident that she listened with absorbed 
interest to all Elinor told her, and when she had finished 
Frances seemed in no hurry to break the silence. 

Now, Frances, I have talked myself hoarse, and it is 
your turn now but Frances shook her head. 

My dear, I am in a nebulous condition. The glamour 
of your eloquence is still over me; I must pinch myself 
awake. Anything more romantic or worthy of a good 
old-fashioned three-volume novel never met my ears. 
Really, Elinor, you told it very prettily, you are a vrai 
raconteur” But Elinor was too much in earnest to enjoy 
her sister’s badinage. 

Frances, you really must be serious. All these weeks 
I have been dying to know your opinion, and longing to 
talk it over with you. I cannot tell how the whole thing 
strikes you, but I have come to the conclusion myself that 
it will be a good thing, after all, for Agnes to marry 
Hammond Keith.” 

Frances looked at her thoughtfully. I have only seen 
him once, you must remember that; but I recollect we 
were both very much taken with him. He is a splendid 
specimen of an English yeoman, and his manners are 
extremely good. It is rather difficult for me to judge, 
but he certainly seems to me to have real grit in him, and 
to be every inch a man.” 

Oh, you are right there.” 

I think on the whole that you have acted very wisely,” 
went on Frances; you did not refuse your sympathy to 
either of them, but at the same time you declined to take 
any responsibility. The longer I live, Elinor, the more 
clearly I see that we must not interfere or tamper too 
much with human lives. If we had the power of second- 
sight and could read the future, we might not fear the 
awful responsibility so much. But, my dear, we are as 


Cousin Beth 


261 


ignorant as one of those midges, and how shall we poor 
purblind insects dare to presume to play minor Providence 
in our neighbours' destinies ! " 

Dear Frances, we think alike on that point." 

I have come to one conclusion," went on Frances, 
that the blame rests wholly and solely with Agnes War- 
burton. I hope this will not hurt you, Nora, but I should 
like to tell you exactly what I think." 

You may speak as frankly as you like." 

'' Thank you — then I will do so. It seems to me that 
Miss Warburton had the opportunity of silencing Mr. 
Keith the first time he spoke to her, and that if she had 
done so, he would never have presumed to make her a 
second offer." 

That is exactly what I told Agnes." 

Of course ; but her weakness and vacillation gave him 
encouragement. It was the old, old story, Nora — ^ the 
woman beguiled me, and I did eat ' ; and your friend 
Agnes has most surely beguiled Hammond Keith. After 
all, he is only human and he loves her, and for my part 
I don't see how he could have acted otherwise." 

“ Oh, I am so glad you exonerate him." 

'' I think he has acted uncommonly well. But I am 
not so sure, Nora, that I can condone Agnes's weakness 
quite so easily. I think she deserves to suffer a little. 
But you need not trouble about her. She has gone too 
far, and she will not dare to wreck both their lives ; she 
is simply biding her time, but all the same she will marry 
Hammond Keith." 

Elinor looked at her doubtfully. Frances' words were 
very comforting, but there was still a lurking fear at the 
bottom of her heart. If only she were not so poor- 
spirited and timid," she sighed. 

My dear, it is the first stumbling-block that seems so 
impassable. Even a coward will sometimes shut his eyes 
and take a header into deep water. Do you remember 
the stepping-stone over that foaming deck near Pitlowrie, 
and how terrified you were? And certainly there was 
noise and fury enough to try the strongest nerves. But 
when you landed on your first boulder you were obliged 
to go on, and I followed you closely." 


262 


No Friend Like a Sister 


'' Oh yes, I remember ; I was never so frightened in my 
life. But where's the analogy, Frances? " 

‘‘ Why, that is as plain as A B C. Agnes Warburton 
has landed on her first boulder, and she will very soon 
cross the stream." 

You mean that she will marry Mr. Keith?" 

Yes, my dear, that is exactly what I do mean. But 
she will know better than to ask you to the wedding. 
There, cheer up, Elinor, I hate to see that worried pucker 
on your forehead. 'All's well that ends well,' and now 
you and I are going to enjoy ourselves." And then the 
quiet sisterly talk flowed on, until Bride returned and 
hurried them into the house to prepare for supper. 


XXXII 


“ Why Not Count Your Blessings? ” 


The roses have faded — the wilful wild roses, 

They sleep with the violets that blossomed in Spring ; 

The midsummer glory has gone from the hedges, 

Where only the blackberries cluster and cling. 

We measure the flight of the year by its seasons, 

“ It fell in the haytime, or harvest,” we say, 

“ At the fall of the leaf, or when primroses blossom,” 

Or else, “ when the berries are red on the spray.” 

Helen Marion Burnside. 

The August days passed only too quickly, and every 
hour was fraught with enjoyment to the sisterhood at 
Wildcroft. Before the first week had ended Frances’ 
tired eyes had regained their old clearness and her voice 
was as full and animated as ever. 

I think I never enjoyed a holiday so much in all my 
thirty-one years,” she remarked quite seriously one morn- 
ing. The weather has been perfect, you and Bride have 
been as good as gold, and the people have been so nice 
and friendly that I have been quite spoilt. Well, Nora, 
why has my pretty little speech made you look so grave ? ” 

“ Because I have just remembered that there is only 
another week before you go back to St. Monica’s,” re- 
turned Elinor rather sadly, for already the shadow of the 
parting had dimmed the brightness. Oh dear, why will 
everything nice come to an end ! ” But Frances took her 
to task for this discontented little speech. 

‘‘ You ungrateful person,” she said, why not count 
your blessings, instead of talking in that heathenish 
fashion? Here we have had a lovely time, and stored 
up a hivefull of honey-sweet memories on which we can 
feast on dark days! Is it nothing that in these three 
weeks I have grown strong and rested and as full of 
energy as ever, and would you have me turn into a drone 
at the very moment I am proving my armour ? ” 

263 


264 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Then Elinor looked at her very tenderly. Dear 
Frances, I am so glad to hear you say that, and indeed 
I never saw you look better in my life ; but you know I 
never was a philosopher like you, and I do so hate any- 
thing coming to an end. But you are right and we will 
just make the most of this last week.’' And Elinor kept 
her word. 

In truth, they had had a very happy three weeks. The 
'' Sycamore Thursdays ” had been exceedingly popular, 
and by some tacit agreement the Milners had been always 
among the guests. Frances had been attracted by the 
brother and sister from the first, but she quite lost her 
heart when she saw John Milner. ‘‘ You are right,” she 
said to Elinor, Mr. Milner is an old dear and it is quite 
a pleasure to look at him. As for Mr. Hugh, he improves 
very much upon acquaintance; he has lost that stiff, re- 
served manner. It is really delightful to see him and his 
father together ; they are a most united little family ” ; and 
Elinor had assented quietly to this. 

As soon as Frances had felt more rested they had spent 
a long afternoon at Crow Farm, which they had greatly 
enjoyed. Mr. Keith seemed more like his old self, and 
his mother had been as talkative and cheerful as ever. 
Kathleen and her father had joined them at tea-time and 
Hugh came in later, and before they left the whole party 
went to ‘‘ The Chimney-Corner ” to give their opinion on 
the alterations, and Frances had been greatly taken with 
the pretty secluded cottage. On their way< back to the 
farm, Elinor found herself alone with Hammond Keith. 
Hugh Milner had been about to join them and had sud- 
denly changed his mind. Elinor fancied that Mr. Keith 
had given him a hint that he wanted to speak to her. 

'' The Tylcote Hall people went off yesterday,” he said 
a little abruptly. ‘‘ I suppose they are to be away six or 
seven weeks.” 

Yes, Mrs. Warburton told us so when she drove over 
to see my sister and to bid us good-bye. We both thought 
she was looking extremely jaded and in need of a 
change.” 

“ Yes, I daresay,” but Hammond Keith’s voice was a 
little indifferent. But the next moment it changed. 


Why Not Count Your Blessings? 265 


“ Miss Gresham, I wanted to tell you something — I have 
heard from Spezzia. Miss Warburton seems better and 
stronger already ; her cousin takes good care of her, and 
she says her life is far more cheerful than it is at home/' 

‘‘ That is exactly what she told me," returned Elinor, 
smiling, for I had my first letter from her yesterday. 
She says Miss Warburton is extremely kind to her, and 
is a most pleasant companion, and that they have all their 
meals in a sort of alcove at one corner of the terrace that 
adjoins the house; it is prettily festooned with vines, and 
overlooks a wild little ravine with olive trees covering 
the hillside — it really sounds charming." 

I am glad she is there," returned Hammond gravely. 
“ It is a load off my mind to know that there is no one 
to trouble her and say cruel things. You know " — with 
a shy flush — that we are able to write to each other 
regularly ? " 

“And that is why you are looking better and happier ? " 
Then the old sunny smile came to his face. 

“ Well, I won't deny that I am more hopeful, and that 
I have a sort of faith that things will come right in time. 
But there, I see the trap is waiting for you, and Mrs. 
Gresham is beckoning to us." And then they hurried on. 

When Elinor repeated Hammond Keith's speech to her 
sister, Frances nodded in a knowing manner. 

“ They are virtually engaged, Nora, you may depend on 
that. Mr. Keith is a sensible, practical man, and you 
may be sure that he has good foundation for his hope; 
he sees plainly that she is going to stick to him. Yes, 
he is a fine fellow, and I am not sure that Agnes War- 
burton will not be a wiser as well as a happier woman 
when she is his wife." And Elinor thought the speech 
extremely satisfactory. 

Agnes's second letter was a shade less elieerful. 

‘H have had my first skirmish with Cousin Beth,” she wrote, 
‘‘and I am afraid she is not at all pleased with me. On 
Wednesday I was just starting for the village, with my letter 
for Hammond safely in my pocket, as I meant to post it myself, 
when Cousin Beth came round the corner. 

“ ‘ It is far too hot for you to go out yet, Agnes,’ she said 
in her brisk, managing way ; ‘ it is such a steep climb back from 
the village, and you will be far better on the terrace. If you 


266 No Friend Like a Sister 


have letters to post, you can give them to me, for I shall be 
going down there a little later,' and she actually held out her 
hand for them. But I shook my head. ‘ You are very good. 
Cousin Beth, but I prefer to post my letters myself, and the little 
stroll will do me good,' and I walked past her. I confess I 
felt rather hot, and that my voice was not quite steady, but I 
felt I must put my foot down; but I am certain from her 
manner that Cousin Beth was offended. 

The next day I felt sure that there would be a letter from 
Hammond, and though I had nothing to post, I was determined 
to call at the little post office. But, to my annoyance, I was 
just opening the garden gate when I heard Cousin Beth’s voice 
calling to me. She had been gardening, and came hurrying 
after me with her trowel still in her hand. 

“ ‘ Why, Agnes,’ she remonstrated, ‘ you have surely no letters 
to post to-day, and you really ought not to fatigue yourself in 
this way. If you must go to the village, I will fetch my sunshade 
and walk with you.’ And in another moment she would have 
done so, but I stopped her. 

‘ Cousin Beth,’ I said, ‘ I hope you will not think me rude or 
uncivil, if I say that I would prefer to go alone. At Tylcote 
Hall I am so much accustomed to my own company, and spend 
so many solitary hours, that constant companionship would be 
irksome to me. Do not mistake me, my dear cousin,’ I continued, 
as she drew herself up with an affronted air, ' I am here for so 
long that you must not treat me as a visitor, and certainly not 
as an invalid; I must be free to take my little strolls, and do 
my odds and ends of business in my own way.’ Oh, I was quite 
brave, you would hardly have known me, Elinor, for I nodded 
and smiled at her when I had finished. But all the time I was 
as angry as possible; for I saw then that you had been right in 
giving me that hint, and that Cousin Beth had been advised to 
keep a strict watch over my movements.” 

Frances looked a little amused when Elinor read this 
part of Agnes’s letter. 

‘‘ Miss Warburton is a little dense,” she remarked ; 
she is one of those people who do not see things until 
their eyes are forcibly opened. Now there will be ruc- 
tions.” And they both waited rather anxiously for the 
next letter. 

"'As usual, you are right, Frances,” observed Elinor, as 
she laid down the closely-written sheet. " Come into the 
garden after breakfast and I will read Agnes’s letter.” 

We have not been very comfortable the last few days,” 
wrote Agnes ; “ there was an oppression in the air as though a 
storm was brewing, and Cousin Beth was decidedly on her 
dignity. Yesterday I had a letter from mother. It was rather 
curt and angry. ‘ Your Cousin Beth seems very much put out,’ 


Why Not Count Your Blessings? 267 


she wrote ; ‘ she complains of your unsociable and morose 

ways. I see plainly that, unless you are a little more circumspect 
in your behaviour, and show her more consideration, she will 
not be willing to keep you until November.^ But I will spare 
you the rest; when mother is excited she never measures her 
words. Well, Elinor, what do you think I did? I went straight 
to Cousin Beth and insisted on her reading the letter. ' I do 
not know what you have said to mother,’ I remarked, ‘ but if it is 
true that I have hurt your feelings so deeply, and that you no 
longer care for my society, you have only to tell me so frankly 
and I will go home.’ And then we had it out. You must know 
that Cousin Beth is rather hot-tempered, and does not bear 
contradiction easily. She is a sort of queen at the Villa Lucia, 
and all the people round adore her, because she is so good to 
them when the vintage is bad and they are in trouble. She was 
on her high horse at first, and said a good many disagreeable 
things. She said I was insular and peculiar, and more like 
a hermit crab than a civilised Englishwoman, and then she 
quieted down. ‘ Don’t be a fool, Agnes,’ she said brusquely ; 
‘ I am not going to let you go home and mope yourself to death, 
you will just stay here until we go to Florence. I shall write 
to your mother to-day and tell her that for the future I intend 
to wash my hands of you; that if you like to tramp to the 
village a dozen times a day, no one will say a word. You are 
not a child, my dear Agnes, and I thank Heaven devoutly that 
I am not your natural guardian.’ And then we shook hands, 
and ever since then we have been the best of friends. I really 
do like Cousin Beth, and I am in no hurry to leave her.” 

Elinor and Bride had concocted all sorts of delightful 
plans for Frances’ last week — ^the Finals, as they termed 
it. There was not only the last Sycamore Tea, but the 
following day there was to be a picnic to Lavington, to 
which the Milners and Hammond Keith and his mother 
were invited. Neither Elinor nor Bride had been there 
before, but Hugh Milner had told them that Lavington 
Hall and its gardens and woods were certainly worth a 
visit. The family was abroad, and on Fridays people 
were admitted to see the place. They were to eat their 
luncheon in the woods, and tea was to be provided at an 
old farmhouse near ; and the tong drive back by moonlight 
would be charming. Hugh had undertaken to make ar- 
rangements with Mrs. Godwin, the mistress of Lavington 
Farm, and as she and Mrs. Keith were old friends and 
school-fellows. Bride had coaxed Mrs. Keith to come too. 

I don’t think we will ask any more people,” she said ; 

we shall be far cosier with just the Milners and the 


268 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Keiths/’ And as Elinor and Frances agreed to this, the 
picnic was kept a profound secret from the large gather- 
ing that assembled at Wildcroft for the last Sycamore 
Tea. 

The Thurstons were there en masse and the Milners, 
and the Rev. Neville Brooke, the Gray dons from Tylcote 
Street and the Morrells from Mexfield, and last but not 
least the Rev. Everard Moulton and his chatty little wife 
from Dewhurst. Bride said afterwards that she must 
have been fey, for she was in wild spirits that afternoon. 
It was she who proposed dancing on the tennis lawn, and 
suggested the daring feat of carrying out the piano bodily, 
under the skilled supervision of John Milner. 

Frances thought it was the prettiest little tableau she 
had ever seen. Bride and Kathleen and the Thurston 
girls and Jessie Gray don were all so young and fresh, and 
their bright faces and crisp muslin frocks looked charm- 
ing against the background of green meadows. The elder 
people sat under the shade of the sycamore and watched 
them, and Frances kept them company. When Hugh 
Milner asked Elinor for the first valse, a slight colour 
came to Frances’ face, and she leaned forward a little 
eagerly. John Milner was playing the '' Blue Danube.” 
Elinor’s white dress and brown hair shone in the warm 
evening light. How well Hugh Milner dances,” 
thought Frances. His handsome face was a little flushed, 
but Elinor was smiling happily. 

John Milner tossed his silvery hair from his forehead 
as he played, and then his eyes met Frances’. My boy 
dances well,” he murmured. It is quite an enjoyment 
to me to see him and your sister together. She is so 
graceful, so unconscious — it is the very poetry of motion.’^ 
And then he sighed, for at such times he would think of 
his Janet. 

Frances was a little thoughtful for the remainder of 
the evening. It seemed to her that Hugh Milner was 
never long absent from Elinor’s side. 

When the young people were weary of dancing, they 
grouped themselves round the piano and sang glees and 
madrigals, startling the old grey owl who lived in the elm, 
until he flew across the meadow with a weird cry of 


Why Not Count Your Blessings? 269 


alarm. How sweet the young voices sounded in the soft 
dusk ! Mrs. Deans and her husband and the Sibleys with 
their solemn-faced boys were all at the white gate listen- 
ing in rapture. Every now and then a faint clapping of 
hands sounded in the distance. When John Milner struck 
the first chords of “ God save the King they all started 
to their feet. In a few minutes there were leave-takings — 
a chorus of jubilant voices, as the young folk trooped off 
across the meadows. '' What a delightful evening ! ’’ they 
exclaimed. Even the Rector of Mexfield and Mr. Grey- 
don, the solicitor from Tylcote Street, had a word of 
praise as they drove off. When the last guest had gone, 
Elinor and Frances stood in the porch looking out in 
the moonlight, waiting until Bride was ready for supper. 

‘‘ I am so glad it has been such a success ! ’’ exclaimed 
Elinor, but her voice was a little tired. We really ought 
to go in and rest, for we have a long day’s work before 
us to-morrow.” 

Just a moment, dear,” and Frances’ hand rested 
lightly on her arm. Bride will be here directly, and it is 
no use our beginning without her. What a darling she 
looked this evening, and how prettily she dances ! ” 

‘‘ Yes, and that dress suited her so well. The people 
here admire Bride so much, they say she is so extremely 
graceful.” 

I am not surprised to hear that.” And then Frances 
hesitated. There was something she wanted to say; it 
had been on her lips more than once lately, but she had 
not found the courage to say it. 

“ Let us go and have a peep at the old churchyard,” she 
said suddenly. And as they leant on the little gate a 
moment, Frances managed to say her word. 

Elinor,” she whispered, ‘‘ are you sure that it is quite 
wise and kind to encourage Hugh Milner to come so 
often ? ” But before Elinor could reply, they heard 
Bride’s voice calling to them to come in at once; but as 
they walked back to the house Elinor made no response 
to Frances’ remark. 


XXXIII 


The Lavington Woods 

Wherever power of any kind is given, there is responsibility 
attached. — R uskin. 

Love does not spring up and grow great and perfect all at 
once, but requires time and nourishment of thoughts. — D ante. 

The next day was perfect, the sky cloudless, while a 
delicious breeze tempered the heat. The Wildcroft party 
had arranged to start early, the three ladies driving, Joe 
Twitchett and the hampers in a light farm-cart having 
preceded them. The meeting-place was to be the East 
Lodge, which faced the Lavington woods; and as Bride 
brought Peggy to a standstill at the lodge gate, they 
found themselves at once surrounded by the Crow Farm 
party. Hammond Keith went to the mare’s head and 
Hugh and his father helped the ladies to alight, while 
Mrs. Keith and Kathleen awaited them in the lodge porch. 
'' You need not trouble to hold Peggy, Mr. Keith,” ob- 
served Elinor; we passed Joe in the road just now, and 
he will be here directly. Don’t you think Peggy is in 
good condition? She brought us at such a pace, Mrs. 
Gresham could hardly hold her in.” 

“ She is as skittish as a foal,” returned Hammond, pat- 
ting the mare’s sleek side. Why, it is over ten miles, 
and she has not turned a hair. Oh, there comes Twitchett 
I will stay and give him a hand with those hampers while 
Milner takes you up to the house — there is a short cut 
through the woods — and as soon as I have given 
Twitchett his orders, I will join you there.” 

The stroll through the shady woods was delightful, and 
the beautiful old house and gardens interested them 
greatly. There were some fine old portraits in the picture 
gallery — a Gainsborough, two or three by Sir Joshua 
Reynolds, and one by Angelica Kauffmann. 


270 


271 


The Lavington Woods 

Frances, who had a perfect mania for old houses, would 
have enjoyed herself intensely but for one anxious 
thought which haunted her constantly. Had she been 
wrong and tactless to utter that warning word? Why 
had Elinor made no reply? Could it be that even from 
her she resented the interference? Frances fancied that 
she was a little quieter than usual, and once or twice she 
was sure that she tried to avoid Hugh Milner. Once, when 
he had proposed to show them the gardens, and Elinor 
found him beside her as usual, she had stopped and held 
out her hand to her sister. Come, Frances,’’ she said, 
'' why are you always in the rear ? ” And then she had 
turned to Hugh with a charming smile. '' You know, my 
sister is to leave us on Tuesday, and we have only three 
more whole days together, so I don’t mean to let her out 
of my sight,” and she tucked her hand through Frances’ 
arm. 

Frances almost said Bravo ” under her breath ; it was 
done with such ease and cleverness, the most sensitive 
person could not have been hurt, and Hugh Milner ac- 
cepted the unwelcome third with the best grace in the 
world. 

When the gardens had been admired and Mrs. Keith 
had finished her chat with the housekeeper, Hugh piloted 
them through the woods to a certain little green glade 
which he and Hammond Keith had selected for the ban- 
queting-hall. It was a charming spot. Just below there 
was a little shimmering pool where water-lilies grew, and 
a soft springy bed of moss stretched underneath the trees. 

Soon they were all exceedingly busy. While Kathleen 
and Bride laid the cloth, Mrs. Keith and Frances and 
Elinor mixed the salad and arranged the dishes to the 
best advantage, and the gentlemen fetched and carried as 
they were ordered. 

Mrs. Keith opened her eyes rather widely at the sumpt- 
uous feast, and even Frances pretended to be shocked at 
the sight of the champagne bottles cooling at the edge of 
the pool. But Elinor whispered in her ear that Bride had 
insisted on the champagne, and had ordered it herself. 
But even Bride seemed a little ashamed of her extrava- 
gance when both Hammond Keith and Hugh Milner de- 


272 


No Friend Like a Sister 


dared they would prefer lager-beer ; only John Milner 
joined the ladies and drank their health in the famous 
beverage. They were a very merry party, and Mrs. Keith 
told some of her best Westmoreland stories as they enjoyed 
their dessert. Joe Twitchett, who sat a little apart with 
his back against a tree and a goodly consignment of the 
luncheon dishes beside him, was seen to shake with silent 
laughter from time to time. 

By and by there were plates and dishes to wash; but 
many hands made light work, and soon Joe Twitchett 
and the hampers were left behind, and they were strolling 
through the woods again in the direction of Lavington 
farmhouse, where Mrs. Godwin and tea awaited them. 

There was a general exclamation of delight at the 
sight of the old red brick house with its gable windows 
and wide porch nearly smothered in traveller's joy and 
roses. Tea was laid on the long table in the great cool 
kitchen, with its red brick floor and heavy cross-beamed 
ceiling, white and pink roses peeping in at the open 
lattice windows. 

The table almost groaned under its good things, and 
Elinor and Frances looked at each other in dismay at the 
sight of the hot buttered scones and cakes ; but they were 
somewhat comforted when Hugh and Mr. Keith assured 
them that they were quite ready for another meal, and 
that they meant to do their level best, but that they-ihad 
their doubts about Joe Twitchett. 

You see, he finished that pigeon pie and at least half 
a chicken," observed Hugh gloomily ; but I will try him 
with that plate of buttered scones when Mrs. Godwin has 
gone out of the room." And ten minutes later he had the 
satisfaction of informing Elinor that the plate was empty. 
'' There is an old collie barking on the grass just by," he 
continued, “ I rather think he would enjoy a slice or two 
of that currant loaf." And in this shameless way they 
got rid of some of the provisions, and spared the feelings 
of their hospitable hostess. 

'' Who eats pays, who eats not still pays," observed 
Hugh sententiously — a shilling a head all round." But 
here he stopped to pour out a saucer of cream for a small 
black kitten who was clawing him in infantine hunger, 


The Lavington Woods 


273 


After this they went out into the pleasant old-fashioned 
garden, and here Frances witnessed another little episode; 
for the eyes of sisterly love are very keen and long- 
sighted, and even trifles do not escape them. 

Elinor had worn all day a little cluster of tea-roses in 
her grey voile dress, but in stooping over a bush of Mi- 
chaelmas daisies to look at an empty nest in the hedge, 
one or two roses had become detached and had fallen on 
the path. Elinor was unconscious of her loss and had pres^ 
ently moved on, but Hugh had not at once followed them. 
Through a little gap in the bush Frances saw him pick up 
the roses and put them quickly into his breast-pocket. 

'' I am glad I said it,’' thought Frances, '' it has gone 
deep with him, I am sure of that; Elinor will see it for 
herself soon.” And then, as she looked at her sister’s 
sweet face, a pang of pity crossed her heart for the eager, 
infatuated young man. Elinor is too humble-minded,” 
she said to herself, '' she has no idea of her own attrac- 
tion ” ; and then she wondered for the twentieth time that 
day if she were really as unconscious as she looked. 

I shall not dare to repeat my warning,” she went on, 
as Elinor paused before a row of bee-hives; '‘Nora is 
very gentle, but there are limits to her forbearance. It 
would be too painful to see her draw into her shell.” But 
Frances need not have disquieted herself. Elinor had 
qui-e understood that warning word — in fact, it had kept 
her awake for hours ; but not even to her beloved Frances 
could she have spoken of Hugh Milner. 

A few minutes later Elinor put up her hand to her 
throat. " I must have dropped my roses,” she said rather 
regretfully. 

“ Shall I go back and look for them? ” asked Hugh ; but 
he had the grace to flush over this mendacious remark. 

" ( )h no, it does not matter,” she returned hastily ; 
" but T had better throw the rest away,” and she tossed 
the blossoms over the hedge. 

Before they left, Hugh brought her a spray almost 
similar to those she had worn. " Mrs. Godwin allowed 
me to pick these,” he said as he handed them to her. It 
struck Frances that Elinor accepted them a little re- 
luctantly, and that she did not at once pin them in her 

i8 


274 


No Friend Like a Sister 


dress. They are finer than our Wildcroft roses/’ she 
observed as she inhaled their fragrance; and they were 
still in her hand when they drove off and laughing adieus 
passed between them and the Crow Farm party. 

Good-bye/’ exclaimed Elinor gaily, as Bride flour- 
ished her whip over Peggy’s brown mane as a reminder 
that she was to behave herself prettily ; ‘‘ I expect we shall 
meet after service on Sunday evening.” It was Kathleen 
she was addressing, but at that moment her eyes met 
Hugh’s. 

Elinor was very quiet for some time after they started, 
and Frances, who was tired, was quite willing to be silent ; 
but after a time she roused herself and they had one of 
their old talks. 

It was arranged that on Sunday afternoon they were 
to drive over to Mexfield, have tea at the Rectory, and 
attend service afterwards. Mr. Morrell had informed 
Elinor on Thursday that he was expecting an old college 
friend to spend the week-end with him, and that he was 
to preach at Mexfield Church in the evening. ‘‘ You may 
know his name,” he continued, “ for his mission services 
at Stepney and the Isle of Dogs were very freely can- 
vassed in the papers — Forbes Rutherford, the rector of 
St. James’s, Haggerston.” Elinor started, for this was 
the very man of whom Lyall had once spoken to them. 
He had heard him preach at Bethnal Green, and on his 
return to Grove House had held forth to them in his en- 
thusiastic way. 

“ Such men are the salt of the earth,” he had said ; 

Forbes Rutherford is a name to conjure with. As I 
listened to him preaching to that squalid, rough congre- 
gation, I kept thinking of the Pentecostal tongues^ when 
thousands were converted ; and it seemed to me as though 
I were listening to a second Isaiah, and that ' the live coal 
from the altar ’ must have been laid on his lips too. Such 
burning eloquence, such convincing, persuasive depth of 
argument, yet so simple that a child could have under- 
stood him. I would have given worlds to have spoken 
to him, to have shaken his hand and asked for his bless- 
ing ; but it was impossible to get near him — they were 
crowding round him, men and women, when I left.” 


The Lavington Woods 


275 


Elinor had always remembered these words when she 
saw Forbes Rutherford’s name in the Church Times; 
but before she could reply to Mr. Morrell, Frances had 
leant forward with unusual eagerness. 

Oh, Nora,” she exclaimed, '' Forbes Rutherford — that 
is the missioner who did that wonderful work at Stepney 
and Limehouse! Edith Holdsworth and I have been 
planning for months to go over to Haggerston to hear 
him, but we never could get a free Sunday; and he is 
actually coming to Mexfield !” 

Yes,” returned Mr. Morrell, smiling, and you had 
better all come over to hear him. Dorothy ” — addressing 
his wife, who sat near him talking to Bride — these two 
ladies are anxious to hear our good friend Rutherford 
preach on Sunday evening, so you may as well invite them 
to tea. We can house the mare and trap. Miss Gresham, 
and your man can attend the service too. The drive back 
in the moonlight will be very pleasant.” And so it was 
arranged. 

But as Frances and Elinor accepted the invitation with 
delight, and even Bride seemed quite excited, the rector 
gave them a warning word. You shall have all the 
hospitality that we can offer you, but you must not expect 
to see much of Rutherford. He is a bit eccentric, and 
never likes being introduced to strangers before service. 
Very likely he will insist on having tea by himself in 
my study, so as not to distract his mind.” 

'' Then in that case would it not be better to drive 
straight to the church ? ” observed Elinor. But Mr. Mor- 
rell and his wife would not hear of this. 

‘‘ In all probability, whether any one was there or not, 
Mr. Rutherford would shut himself up in the study until 
it was time to go across to the church. We never take 
any notice of his little ways — that is why he likes coming 
to us,” observed Mrs. Morrell, smiling. 

Frances had been much excited at the prospect of hear- 
ing the famed missioner, and her one regret seemed to be 
that her friend Edith Holdsworth could not participate in 
her pleasure. And both Elinor and Bride congratulated 
each other that Frances’ last Sunday at Meadow Thorpe 
should hold this crowning enjoyment. 


276 


No Friend Like a Sister 


I do think the last week has been the most delightful 
time of all ! ’’ exclaimed Bride in her impulsive way. 

Elinor assented to this with all her heart. She was 
delighted beyond measure that Frances should have her 
wish fulfilled. Surely that last Sunday would be a feast 
of good things ! There would be strong meat to 
strengthen them for many a long day. Elinor thought 
how pleased Lyall would be to know they had heard his 
favourite missioner. Poor Elinor, how little she guessed 
what Forbes Rutherford’s sermon was to cost her ! 

By common consent, Saturday was spent in perfect 
quiet. Even Frances owned that she was tired, and de- 
clared that nothing short of absolute necessity would 
induce her to go farther than the garden. ''We drove 
more than twenty miles yesterday/’ she declared, " and I 
am quite sure we must have walked three miles at least 
through those woods, without counting the fatigue of 
packing and unpacking hampers.” And as Elinor was of 
the same mind, they spent the morning talking and work- 
ing in a shady corner of the lawn. And after luncheon 
all three ladies retired to their hammocks until tea-time; 
and the evening was passed chiefly in listening to Bride’s 
singing. 

This judicious rest-cure was so beneficial that Frances 
and Elinor were able to walk over the fields to early ser- 
vice at Dewhurst. But Bride, who overslept herself, was 
full of apologies on their return. 

" It was all Rachel’s fault,” she grumbled ; " she forgot 
to wind up my alarum. Now I shall have to do penance 
for my laziness, and go over to Sweet Hawes, in spite of 
the heat.” But Frances promptly put her foot down. 

" You will do nothing of the kind, my dear,” she said 
hastily. " Besides, I don’t hold with self-imposed pen- 
ances. You can read your Psalms and Lessons in the 
churchyard if you like ; but as we shall start for Mexfield 
at half-past three, it would be very unwise for you to 
overheat yourself walking to Sweet Hawes.” And as 
usual Bride was docile. 


XXXIV 


“ An Areow at a Venture ” 

Let all creatures be silent in Thy sight; speak Thou alone to 
me. — Thomas a Kempis. 

Of all acts, is not for man Repentance the most divine ! — 
Carlyle. 

Shall we wear our palms and pay no price for them! — H. 
Hamilton King. 

It was a lovely afternoon when the Wildcroft party 
drove up to Mexfield Rectory. Mrs. Morrell, who was in 
the pretty glass-covered porch, which formed a charming 
little conservatory, came down to meet them. 

“ You are in such good time,’’ she exclaimed ; my 
husband has only just come in from the Sunday School, 
and tea will be ready in five minutes. You know we al- 
ways have it in the dining-room, because we like to have 
our children with us on Sunday.” And then, as she led 
the way with Frances, she continued, Owen was right 
in what he said on Thursday. Mr. Rutherford asked me 
at luncheon to send a cup of tea into the study. He has 
been resting all the afternoon, and he wishes to be quiet 
until service. I am afraid he is very tired; he has had 
a very hard week’s work at Leicester.” 

As Frances had been prepared for this, she was not 
much disappointed, though it was certainly rather tantalis- 
ing to know that Forbes Rutherford was under the same 
roof with them, but invisible. But later on she had an 
unexpected glimpse of the famous preacher. After tea, 
the youngest boy, a chubby little fellow of five, insisted 
on dragging her into the hall to show her his new rocking- 
horse, that was stabled pro tern, by the study door. As 
they crossed the passage, the study door suddenly opened 
and a tall man in a cassock came towards them. 

Can you tell me if Morrell is in the vestry yet ? ” he 

277 


278 


No Friend Like a Sister 


asked ; there is something I must ask him/' Then, as 
he saw Frances' face more clearly, ‘‘ I beg your pardon, I 
thought I was speaking to Mrs. Morrell. The passage 
is a little dark." 

'' I am here^ Mr. Rutherford," observed Mrs. Morrell, 
who had followed them. ‘‘ I will send one of the boys 
across to the church to fetch Owen." And then he 
thanked her and went back to the study, while Frances 
contemplated the rocking-horse somewhat absently. 

She was wondering how she could describe Forbes 
Rutherford to her friend Edith Holdsworth. She had 
seldom seen a more marked and peculiar face. At first 
sight it might almost have been termed ugly; but the 
eyes were wonderful in their depth and clearness, and the 
smile that came to his lips when he discovered his mis- 
take had seemed to light up his whole face. His voice, 
too, had sounded very pleasantly in Frances' ears. But 
as she went back to the dining-room with the child still 
clinging to her hand, she was surprised to find that Bride 
had also had a glimpse of him. 

Oh, Francie," she whispered, I am so disappointed. 
Mr. Rutherford is such a dreadfully ugly man ! " 

Not when he speaks, dear," returned Frances, and 
he has a beautiful smile." But Bride received this rather 
incredulously. 

‘^Anyhow it gave me a shock," she went on. ‘‘But we 
must not stand here talking. Mrs. Morrell wants us to 
go over to the church, as she is sure it will be very full ; 
but Martin is asking the churchwarden to reserve seats 
for us." And then Elinor was summoned, and they went 
across. 

Early as it was the church was nearly full. Before 
another half-hour had passed it was literally packed. A 
small pew by a pillar had been reserved for them; and 
when Elinor had seated herself, she saw the Keiths and 
Milners were two or three seats before them. Even Mrs. 
Keith, who rarely attended evening service, was there. 
Joe Twitchett, too, was near them with the Rectory ser- 
vants. 

Frances had never before attended the service at Mex- 
field Church, and she was much struck with the reverent 


An Arrow at a Venture 


279 


behaviour of the congregation, and the heartiness of the 
singing and the responses. The rector read most of the 
Service, but Mr. Rutherford took the first lesson. But 
when he entered the pulpit and gave out his text, even 
in that crowded edifice, with people standing in the aisles, 
one could have heard a pin drop. ‘‘ Whosoever will come 
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and 
follow me.’’ When the preacher had read these words 
twice, he stood silent for a moment with his hand lifted, 
while an expectant hush seemed to pervade the congre- 
gation. 

Bride was sitting by the pillar, and Frances was next 
her. Then came Elinor and an old man in a white smock, 
with work-worn hands, crippled and distorted by rheu- 
matism. 

At first the preacher’s delivery was a little slow and 
halting. The brief terse sentences seemed singularly 
abrupt. It was as though some mountain rivulet was 
forcing its way over rough boulders and through blocked- 
up channels. Then it flowed more smoothly, until the 
mighty tide of eloquence carried his hearers along with 
resistless force. He might truly have said, ‘‘ While I was 
musing the fire burned: then spoke I with my tongue.” 
And as that wonderful voice rang through the church, 
with its marvellous changes of tone — its deep rich timbre, 
its alternate sternness and tenderness — every soul seemed 
stirred to new emotion. The gnarled old hands that 
grasped the stick were shaking, and the slow tears of old 
age were running down the furrowed cheeks. Mercy 
on us, but it is turrible,” Elinor heard him mutter, as 
Gaffer Mort pulled out his blue-checked handkerchief 
with some difficulty. 

The sunset glow was fading, and the church was grow- 
ing dusky and full of shadow; only one hanging lamp 
above the preacher’s head threw into strong relief the 
rugged, impassioned face. 

Frances had long been aware that Bride was weeping 
silently in her corner, but she dare not look at her. Only 
when a low sob reached her ear, her hand closed over 
Bride’s ; it was cold and trembling. 

Was it an arrow at a venture,” she asked herself. 


280 


No Friend Like a Sister 


or had a Fatherly Providence sent this message through 
the lips of His evangelist to His wayward and wandering 
child It seemed to Frances as though every word 
must have been a fresh dagger-thrust to poor Bride ; and 
she was sure from one or two restless movements on 
Elinor’s part that she was growing very uncomfortable. 

He who neglects the duty that lies before him,” went 
on the solemn tones, who hears a voice behind him say- 
ing, ' This is the way, walk ye in it,’ and yet turns his 
back and declines to take it — it is such a one who refuses 
to take up the cross held out to him by the pierced hands. 
The cross refused, oh, dear people, think of it — the false 
disciple refusing to follow the Master. No cross for me 
on earth. Lord ” ; and dropping his voice — ‘‘ no crown 
for that weak soul in heaven.” 

Frances clasped Bride’s hand more closely. Her eyes 
were smarting with repressed tears. Ah, what was he 
saying now? He seemed narrating some anecdote or 
story. She had always heard that Forbes Rutherford 
often introduced some narrative of real life — some little 
episode that had struck him during some mission. 

‘‘ I was speaking of a faithless soul just now,” he went 
on — of one who refused his Master’s cross. Let me 
show you the other side of the picture. 

The other night, during my Leicester mission, I had 
the great happiness of seeing an old college friend from 
whom I had been long parted. He had worked long and 
successfully in his dear Master’s service in South Africa. 
Then in the heat of the day his strength had failed, and 
they told him that if he wished to live he must go home 
and rest — that for two or three years he would not be fit 
to work. His heart was nearly broken, for he had n 
one to take his place, and before he could return he fel 
that all the work of these years would be lost. But the; 
were very urgent with him, and almost forced him away 

‘‘ To a certain extent the voyage had benefited him. 
but he was still very low and sad at heart at the though 
of his poor people. He had to stay in London for a day 
or two before going down to his old home ; and Fate — or 
shall we not say a loving Providence ? — brought the very 
man across his path who could help him — one whom he 


An Arrow at a Venture 


281 


had known in old days. Dear people, I do not know the 
name of that brave and heroic soul who offered that Sun- 
day evening to go over and save those few sheep in the 
wilderness from wandering again into outer darkness, 
who promised for three years to hold that mission fort, 1 
only know just one or two things about this faithful ser- 
vant. He was young, and just on the eve of marriage, 
and life to him was fragrant with promise, but for some 
reason unknown to my friend his wife was unable to ac- 
company him. For two and a half years this heroic priest 
has laboured patiently at this rough mission work, with 
the ocean dividing him from all he loved ; but he will not 
be there much longer, for, thank God for His mercies, my 
friend’s health is now restored. 

‘‘ Dear people, bear with me a moment, though I have 
spoken long, I fear. Here, in this instance, we have the 
cross accepted, and yet how heavy that cross must have 
been to that ardent young soul! But what saith the 
Master, ‘ Every one that hath forsaken houses, or breth- 
ren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, 
or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundred- 
fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.’ ” The mighty, 
vibrating voice sunk to silence, then rose again jubilant 
with solemn gladness. Therefore shall they (these 
faithful ones) receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful 
crown from the Lord’s hand; for with His right hand 
shall He cover them, and with His arm shall He protect 
them. Even so. Amen.” 

The evening hymn followed, and Bride sat still in her 
place. But after the benediction, as the people began to 
move, Frances felt a hot hand clutching at her wrist. 

Frances, you must help me. I must speak to him — 
to Mr. Rutherford ; and then we must go home — I cannot 
go back to the Rectory.” 

'‘Yes, dear, I understand; I will do my best for you.” 
And Frances, always quietly alert in an emergency, at 
once made up her mind what to do. " Nora,” she whis- 
pered, as old Gaifer Mort hobbled with difficulty down 
the aisle, " Bride wishes to speak to Mr. Rutherford, and 
I am going to the vestry. Will you tell Joe to bring round 
the trap to the churchyard gate as soon as possible; and 


282 


No Friend Like a Sister 


ask Mrs. Morrell to excuse us, as Bride is not very 
well ? ’’ And then, when the Milners and Keiths had 
passed their seat, Frances made her way to the vestry. 

Elinor glanced at Bride, who was still kneeling with 
her face hidden, and a sudden lump came into her throat. 
Bride had been her special charge, and now she must 
leave her to Frances; but the next moment she crushed 
the throb of jealousy, and rose to carry out her sister's 
directions. On her way to the Rectory, she followed 
Hugh Milner and Kathleen, who were walking very 
slowly, as though they were waiting for some one; but 
she was bent on avoiding them, and took a little side-path 
to the Rectory. 

Frances was not long gone. The church was empty by 
this time, and she came swiftly down the long aisle. 

Bride," she said quietly, ‘‘ the vestry is very full, and 
Mr. Rutherford cannot see you there. He will come to 
you in the porch; it is lighter there than in the church, 
and the people will be all gone directly." 

Then Bride followed her. But when they had reached 
the door, she took hold of Frances' hand. 

Do not leave me just yet," she faltered, ‘‘or I shall 
have no courage to speak to him." Then Frances soothed 
her with grave tenderness. 

Mr. Rutherford did not keep them long waiting. Bride 
shrank back into her corner as she saw the tall form 
striding towards them ; but as he extended his hand, she 
looked up in his face piteously. 

“ You would not shake hands with me if you knew who 
I am," she said with a little sob. “ The story you told was 
about my husband. I was that unworthy wife who re- 
fused to go with him to the work." Then a great light 
came into the clear, steadfast eyes of the missioner. 

“ You are that young man's wife ? " 

“ Yes ; his name is Lyall Gresham, and he is out there 

still, and I " and here, as Bride broke into sudden 

weeping, Frances gently disengaged herself and went 
outside. But as she did so, she heard Mr. Rutherford 
say, “ Poor child — my poor dear child," in a tone of loving 
Pitj. 

Frances never knew how long she stood there in the 


An Arrow at a Venture 


283 


cool evening light. Joe Twitchett drove up to the gate, 
and presently she saw Elinor and Mr. Morrell walking 
down from the Rectory, but she did not join them. She 
felt that any speech would jar on her to-night — when a 
human soul so dear to her was in bitter travail and pain. 
Her great loving heart was stirred within her. ‘‘ God 
moves in a mysterious way,’’ she said to herself, as she 
looked up at a little star twinkling near a luminous cloud. 
‘‘ How true it is that ‘ we are led by paths that we have 
not known ’ ! He may well call her a child, for she has 
never been a woman — Lyall has found that out, poor fel- 
low.^' And then, as she remembered the preacher’s clos- 
ing words, a smile came to her lips. '' Dear Lyall,” she 
whispered, you have been faithful — Heaven grant your 
patience may be rewarded ! ” Then at the sound of foot- 
steps on the flagged path Frances turned. Bride was 
coming towards her. Mr. Rutherford was still with her. 
No one spoke for a moment, but just before they reached 
the gate, he said to Frances in a low voice, You must 
take her home and make her rest ; she is quite worn out.” 
Then he put out both hands to Bride. ‘‘ God bless you ! I 
will pray for you and him too ” — and then he went back 
to the church. 

Mr. Morrell put them into the trap. Elinor, after a 
moment’s hesitation, had taken the front seat, leaving 
Frances with Bride; but it was a silent drive, and they 
were all thankful when they reached Wildcroft. 

Frances detained Elinor for a moment in the passage. 
‘‘ I am going to get Bride to bed,” she said — she is so 
worn out that she is trembling from head to foot with 
exhaustion — then we must coax her to take some food.” 
And Elinor at once undertook to bring up the necessary 
refreshments. But on seeking admittance to Bride’s room 
a little later, she was somewhat surprised when Frances 
took the tray from her hand. Dear Nora,” she said, 
‘‘ I think it will be wiser to leave her to me for a little ; 
I know just what to do for her, and I shall not come down 
until she is calmer.” Then again Elinor swallowed a diffi- 
cult lump; she had never been shut out of Bride’s room 
before. 

'' In that case you must have some food,” she returned ; 


284 


No Friend Like a Sister 


^ut her voice was a little dry, and she was turning away. 
But a hand on her shoulder detained her. 

'' Yes, you shall bring me some — or rather let Rachel 
bring it. Nora ’’ — and something appealing in Frances’ 
voice compelled Elinor to look at her — ‘‘ I know exactly 
what you are feeling, and how strange and hard it is; 
but, darling, surely you can trust your child to Sister 
Gresham for a few hours ! ” Then, as their eyes met, the 
little spasm of jealousy passed from Elinor’s breast. 

Oh, Frances,” she whispered, ‘‘ don’t I know the com- 
fort you will be to her ! Only promise to come to me as 
soon as she can spare you.” And Frances faithfully 
promised this. 


XXXV 


“ I Understand You Perfectly ” 

Show me the path! I had forgotten Thee 

When I was happy and free, 

Walking down here in the gladsome light of the sun; 

But now I come and mourn ; oh, set my feet 

In the road to Thy blest seat! J. Ingelow. 

Another hour passed. The household had long since 
retired to rest, and Elinor, depressed and wearied by the 
emotions and fatigues of the evening, was sitting in an 
easy-chair by her bedroom window looking out into the 
moonlight, when Frances entered the room. She had a 
small lamp in her hand^ which she set down on the table. 

‘‘ I have been a long time, I am afraid,” she said in 
rather a concerned voice. “ Oh, Nora, how tired you 
look! Bride wants you to go and bid her good-night.” 
Then, as Elinor got up at once, she continued, She has 
talked too much already, I think it would be better for 
you to say as little as possible. I will wait here until you 
come back.” And then Elinor nodded and took up the 
hand-lamp, for the passage leading to Bride’s room was 
generally dark. 

Bride was sitting up in bed with her beautiful hair 
streaming over the pillows. Her face was swollen with 
weeping, but her expression was more peaceful. She 
stretched out her arms to Elinor. 

Dear Nora, I could not sleep without bidding you 
good-night.” Then, as she held her close, she whispered. 
You are not vexed with me for wanting Frances to- 
night?” 

My dear child — no ” ; but Elinor felt a guilty little 
twinge as she remembered her momentary jealousy. I 
am only too thankful that she should be a comfort to 
you.” 

Oh, she is so good — I never knew before what she 
could be in trouble — but you are my own dear sister too ! ” 

28s 


286 


No Friend Like a Sister 


But Elinor, mindful of Frances’ words, refused to let her 
say more, and kissing her affectionately, withdrew. 

She found Frances still standing by the window. You 
have been very quick, Nora. Now you will go to bed 
and try to rest. I have promised Bride that I will sit by 
her until she is asleep.” 

‘‘ Oh, Frances, and you are quite as tired as I am ! ” 

‘‘ It will rest me, dear, to sit quietly in the dark a little, 
and she is so exhausted that I am sure she will soon fall 
asleep. I shall not come in again, Nora, our talk must 
wait for the morning,” and Elinor rather reluctantly as- 
sented to this. 

The next morning, as Elinor was enjoying the cup of 
tea Rachel had brought her, Frances entered the room, 
fully dressed. She brought a good report of Bride, she 
had slept well. Frances had stolen down the passage once 
in the night, and had been relieved to find her sleeping as 
placidly as a child. But when Elinor peeped in on her 
way downstairs, she thought Bride was looking very 
white and exhausted. Frances was just placing the 
breakfasf-tray in a more comfortable position; she gave 
Elinor a sign not to linger. 

Please begin your breakfast, I shall be down directly,’’ 
she continued ; I expect I shall find a budget awaiting 
me.” And she was right, for a pile of letters occupied 
her all the time she ate her breakfast, and as Elinor had 
her own share of correspondence, very few words passed 
between them; only as she gathered up her letters and 
took her key-basket, Frances looked up. 

‘‘ Nora, if you will be disengaged in half-an-hour, will 
you come with me into the little churchyard? I want a 
quiet talk where no one will be likely to interrupt us.” 

'' Yes, certainly, I shall have given all my orders by 
then, and the rest of the morning will be at your dis- 
posal ”; and Frances thanked her and went on with her 
letter. 

The little churchyard was certainly a peaceful spot that 
morning, and as the sisters seated themselves on a jutting- 
out mass of broken masonry, with the few scattered 
graves at their feet, and the wide quiet pastures surround- 
ing them, Frances gave an involuntary sigh. 


I Understand You Perfectly 287 


‘‘ I don’t wonder that you and Bride love this place so 
much,” she said ; '' I don’t like the idea of leaving it myself 
to-morrow. But we have had a glorious time, have we 
not, Nora? ” 

Yes, but to-morrow evening I shall be missing you 
badly.” 

‘^And I you. But we will not talk of that now. I have 
made up my posy of honey-sweet memories, and I shall 
just smell hard at it all the way home, as the old women 
sniff at their southernwood and rosemary during the ser- 
mon.” 

Elinor smiled faintly; but Frances’ face was graver 
than usual as she went on. ‘‘ Last night, as I sat in 
Bride’s room in the dark, I told myself that the age of 
miracles had not passed — that the effect of that sermon 
on the dear child was nothing short of miraculous. 
Elinor, I believe last evening was the crucial moment of 
Bride’s life — the turning-point on which depends her own 
and Lyall’s future happiness. But we must be very gentle 
with her — she is so sore that she can only bear a very 
tender touch.” 

‘‘ I think she looks very ill this morning, Frances.” 

No, not bodily ill. Bride has a splendid constitution 
and her health is perfect, but for the first time in her life 
her conscience is fully awake, and she is suffering hor- 
ribly. Bride never does things by halves. Last night 
she saw her past life illuminated by a sudden search- 
light — all disguise was rent asunder, all false glamour had 
melted away. In that lightning-flash she saw the true 
proportion of things, and the thought of all her wifely 
neglect and selfish waywardness were hideous in her 
eyes.” 

But she has repented, Frances. I know Bride well 
enough to be sure that she will strive to the utmost of 
her power to atone to Lyall for all these years.” 

“ Without doubt ; but all the same she will suffer. 
Every penitent soul has in some sense to work out his 
or her redemption. I think it would have broken your 
heart to have heard her last night saying over and over 
to herself, ‘ The cross refused — the cross refused ; no 
crown for that weak soul,’ in a tone almost of despair. 


288 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Oh, it was so sad/' But Elinor could not trust herself 
to reply. There was a moment’s silence, as though 
Frances found it difficult to proceed. Nora,” she said 
gently, '' I am afraid what I have to say will give you 
pain — great pain. Bride wishes to come to St. Monica’s. 
She told Mr. Rutherford so; it is her own idea, and he 
approved.” 

'' What do you mean ? ” in an incredulous tone, for 
Elinor could not believe her ears — that Bride thinks of 
leaving me to live at St. Monica’s ? ” 

No, not to live, dear, only to stay until Lyall comes 
home, and we do not know how soon that may be.” 

He is to come in April ; there are nearly seven months 
until then, and Bride would leave me here alone until 
then! Oh, Frances, was it not enough to lose you and 
have my life spoiled for years, and now Bride will forsake 
me too ! ” And Elinor’s voice was so hurt and full of 
pain that Frances’ deep-set eyes filled with tears. 

Don’t, Nora — don’t say such things, for I would 
rather suffer anything than see you so troubled. When 
Bride told me this last night, I tried hard to combat the 
notion for your sake. I told her that she ought to think 
of you. But after a time I did not dare to say another 
word — it would have been too great a responsibility.” 

I do not understand.” 

No, dear, and I am not surprised ; but I will try to 
make it plain to you. Bride thinks she has committed 
a great sin, and she wants in some way to show her re- 
pentance. She has got it firmly into her mind that Lyall 
has lost all faith in her, and that he does not believe that 
she is in earnest. Her words to me were these : ‘ Lyall 
is so good that he will forgive me at the first word, but he 
will not really trust or believe in me. I must do some- 
thing to prove to him that I am truly in earnest. Let me 
come to you, Frances, and learn how to nurse those poor 
sick people. Don’t let Lyall find me living just a com- 
fortable, ordinary life. Oh, we have been so happy, Nora 
and I, but if I stayed now I should only make her miser- 
able.’ Elinor, much as I hate to grieve you, I fear 
that even your happiness must give way to this, if Bride 
is to recover her self-respect and peace of mind. Let her 


I Understand You Perfectly 289 


carry out her self-imposed penance; you know she has 
always had a fancy for nursing people, and in her present 
state of mind the change of scene and occupation will be 
beneficial/’ 

Elinor sat silent for a moment. Her heart was heavy 
with disappointment, but her sweet, reasonable nature 
owned the truth of Frances’ words. She must not refuse 
her share of self-sacrifice. Better to be dull and lonely 
than to place a stumbling-block in Bride’s path. Poor, 
weak, childish Bride, who would be so strong a prop, so 
tender and yet so bracing, as Frances! And as these 
salutary reflections came to her, the pained tension of her 
face relaxed and softened. 

‘‘ I will not be selfish, Frances — Bride shall go with 
you. But surely you will wait for her a day or two ? ” 
Then the old humourous smile came to Frances’ lips. 

Dear Nora, you surely did not think that Bride meant 
to leave you in this hurry. I shall go up alone to-morrow, 
and make arrangements for her, and my idea is this — • 
that you should bring her up in a fortnight. I can take 
you both in then, and I know you want to see Augusta 
before she starts for the other end of the world.” And 
the thought of this reprieve comforted Elinor a good 
deal. 

They talked a little more ; then Frances begged her to 
go to Bride. She will not get up until she has seen 
you,” she went on ; ‘‘ she is so afraid that you may be 
hurt with her. I shall do my packing while you are with 
her, and then we can sit in the garden a little.” 

But though Frances went up to her room, she did not 
at once settle to her business, for her mind was occupied 
by a perplexing question. '' Circumstances alter cases,” 
she said to herself ; would it be wrong to give Nora a 
hint ? It would reconcile her more to things. But no ” 
— dismissing the temptation with a sigh — I must not 
betray his confidence.” 

Frances’ perplexity arose from a passage in Lyall’s last 
letter, in which he threw out a strong hint that he might 
possibly be home much earlier than April. Pownall is 
quite strong again,” he wrote; ‘^he says he is as fit as 
possible, and longing to be back at work. I should not 


290 


No Friend Like a Sister 


be surprised if I were to get back before Christmas. But 
please say nothing about this to Bride or Elinor, for of 
course things are not settled.^’ 

'' If Nora knew this, it would make such a difference 
to her,” she thought regretfully, but I dare not say a 
word."” 

When Elinor sat down by the bed. Bride looked at her 
very wistfully. Nora,” she whispered, '' you are not 
angry with me? I am not ungrateful, am I-? It does 
seem so cruel to leave you all alone, but you understand, 
do you not?” Then Elinor took the small hot hand in 
hers. Bride was so pathetic, so like a child in her unhap- 
piness and helplessness. 

Dear, I understand you perfectly,” returned Elinor’s 
kind voice; there is nothing for you to explain, Frances 
has made it all clear to me. We have had a very happy 
summer together; but if you stayed on now, feeling as 
you do, I fear things would be spoiled for both of us. Of 
course I shall miss you; but if God has put it into your 
heart to do a little work for Him, do you think I would 
say a word to hinder you ! ” 

Dear, dear Elinor, how good you are ! But you must 
not think too well of me. I am afraid I am- thinking most 
of Lyall.” 

''4vknow what you mean, dearest; but when we have 
sinned against a fellow-creature, and do all in our power 
to atone for our wrong-doing, we must surely be doing 
what is pleasing in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. You 
will be in the path of duty, and I do not think you need 
fear even if you are thinking at first most of Lyall.” 

Bride drew a long oppressed sigh, and her eyes looked 
very sad. '' I have behaved so badly to him, and he has 
been so patient. Oh, Elinor, do you think that he will 
ever trust me again ? ” 

I am sure of it, darling.” 

That is what Frances says — you two think so much 
alike. But there is something I must tell you. Mr. 
Rutherford has promised to come and see me at St. 
Monica’s. Oh, he was so kind and fatherly ! He wants 
me to write to him, for he says he is sure that he can 
help me. He told me that I must be very brave, and bear 


I Understand You Perfectly 


291 


these unhappy feelings patiently. ' In sinning against 
your husband, you have sinned against God/ he said so 
solemnly, ‘ for you should not have married him unless 
you meant to share his work. But now if he comes back 
to you, you will try to be a more loving wife to him, will 
you not ? ’ But I could not answer, I was so broken- 
hearted; and then he said some beautiful things to com- 
fort me.” 

'' Dear Bride, if you will only make Lyall happy, we 
shall have nothing more to ask.” 

And then they talked for some time very quietly over 
future plans. Bride, who was always impulsive, would 
far rather have begun her work at once, but Frances had 
been very firm on this point. Elinor must be considered, 
she had said. There was no reason for undue haste. In a 
fortnight her room should be ready for her, but not before. 
And Bride had been obliged to submit to this. 

Later in the day Elinor found herself alone with 
Frances, and they discussed the events of the previous 
evening more fully. In the afternoon Kathleen and her 
father had called to say good-bye, but Bride had not ap- 
peared ; and they had not stayed long, knowing that it 
was Frances’ last day at Meadow Thorpe. 

Do you think you will be able to stay here alone, 
Nora?” asked Frances, as they took a parting stroll 
across the meadows in the sunset. 

Elinor looked away, and her colour rose a little. 

I think so. I have so many interests, and I have 
grown so attached to the place. But if I am dull, I can 
always come up to Grove House and be near you and 
Bride. You must not trouble about me, Frances.” 

No, but all the same you will lie heavily on my 
mind.” 

But Frances thought it wiser to say no more on that 
subject. It was not for her to interfere with Elinor’s 
plans. She must await further developments. After all, 
things were very simple. If Elinor really found her soli- 
tary life at Wildcroft too trying, she could easily take up 
her quarters at Grove House. After all, it may not be 
for long,” she thought, as she remembered Lyall’s letter. 


XXXVI 


“ One Gets Used to Everything ” 


It is not what we do, but why we do it that is of conseguence. 
How often we say to ourselves, speaking of things of the world, 
“ It does not signify, it is all in the day’s work.” And so neither 
does it signify in the concerns of another world whether we are 
called upon to rule a kingdom or break stones on the road, if only 
what we do is work; work that shall turn to account in the 
reckoning up of the long day of life; work for Him to whom 
nothing is great and therefore nothing can be small. — Elizabeth 
Sewell. 


The following day Frances left Wildcroft. Elinor 
drove with her to Maskell. As they paced up and down 
the little platform, Frances spoke a few parting words of 
advice. 

Don’t be too anxious about Bride. Give her plenty 
of scope. She is likely to be depressed at times ; occupy 
and interest her as much as you can. But I do not think 
she will give you much trouble.” And, as usual, Frances 
was right. 

The fortnight passed very peacefully. Bride strove 
bravely to battle with her occasional moods of despond- 
ency and deep dejection, and would rouse herself with an 
effort if she thought Elinor looked dull or anxious. More 
than once Elinor longed to tell her that her sweetness and 
loving ways would oiily make her miss her more, but she 
wisely left the words unspoken. 

They were very quiet, for Bride shrank from seeing 
people ; but by her own wish they spent one afternoon at 
Crow Farm, and that day she seemed more like her old 
self. Hammond Keith had asked Elinor to go round to 
The Chimney-Corner ” with him to see some new wall- 
papers he had chosen. He was looking well, and in ex- 
cellent spirits, though he told her that he feared that 
Agnes would be unable to return until quite the end of 
November. 


292 


One Gets Used to Everything 293 


lit 

They are going’ to Florence early next month/’ he 
continued, and Miss Warburton is afraid that her cousin 
cannot arrange to come to England earlier; it may even 
be the first week in December.” Then he added a little 
shyly, ‘‘ It is rather trying for both of us, but I ought to 
be thankful that she is so well.” 

On their return to the farm, Elinor was surprised to 
find Bride in close conversation with Hugh Milner; but 
she had no opportunity of joining them, as Mrs. Keith 
wanted to speak to her. 

But later in the evening, when they were all in the 
garden together, Hugh asked her to look at a drawing 
he had just finished, and which Bride had already seen, 
and she accompanied him to the room that he used as his 
workshop. It was a beautifully-executed plan for the 
exterior of the new schools at Leathwaite, . and Elinor 
greatly admired the design. As he put it back in the 
portfolio, he said quietly, “ Mrs. Gresham has been telling 
me that she is going up to town next Tuesday, to stay with 
your sister at St. Monica’s Home.” 

Yes,” returned Elinor, striving ineffectually to -tifle 
a sigh ; we are both going, but I do not intend to remain 
more than two or three days.” 

'' But surely you will be very dull here alone ? ” And 
there was unmistakable anxiety in Hugh’s voice. 

I shall miss her, of course. My sister-in-law 
is the sort of person one cannot help missing. Hers 
is such a bright personality, that I am afraid the house 
will feel very empty at first ; but one gets used to every- 
thing.” 

Hugh looked at her gravely. He was evidently not 
satisfied. 

‘‘ But it hardly seems right. Forgive me if I am say- 
ing more than I ought, but my father and Kathleen will 
be so sorry when they hear it. Wildcroft is so isolated — 
your nearest neighbour is a mile away.” 

I do not think I shall mind it when I get used to it,” 
returned Elinor, much touched by this anxiety on her 
behalf. You see my brother will soon be home, so I 
could not expect to keep Mrs. Gresham to myself much 
longer. She will have to be with her husband.” 


294 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Yes, of course I see that/' And Hugh hesitatec^a 
moment. 

We are only anticipating matters a little," went on 
Elinor hastily. ‘'And really there is no need for me to 
be dull. If I find my solitude at Meadow Thorpe irksome, 
I can always run up to town, and take up my quarters 
in our old home at the Boltons. I shall be near both my 
sisters then. I think I told you that my eldest sister is 
going to India ; but, as the house belongs to my brother, 
I can always make use of it when I wish to do so." 

“ But you will be alone there," he objected, and some- 
thing in Hugh's tone brought a little lump to Elinor's 
throat. But she went on bravely. 

“ Oh, but that will be a very different loneliness, for 
I can spend most of my time at St. Monica's if I like, and 
I have all my old friends round me. Very probably I 
shall go backwards and forwards a good deal." And then 
she added, with a bright smile, " In that case I shall 
hope to see something of Kathleen. Perhaps she will 
come and stay with me at the Boltons — at least for a day 
or two, if your father can spare her." 

“ You are very good," returned Hugh gravely, but he 
did not look at her as he spoke. “ I am sure Kathleen 
will be very pleased to do so. Now I must not keep you 
longer, as I expect Mrs. Gresham is waiting for you." 
And then he opened the door for her to precede him; 
and shortly afterwards they took their leave. 

When Elinor and Bride reached St. Monica's the fol- 
lowing Thursday, they received a warm welcome from 
Frances. Bride seemed much pleased with the cosy cubi- 
cle that had been arranged so thoughtfully for her com- 
fort, and while she was settling into her new quarters 
the sisters had a little talk together. Frances was much 
disappointed when she heard that Elinor meant to return 
home early on Saturday morning. 

“ I quite hoped that you would have stayed at least a 
week or ten days," she said rather reproachfully. 

“ I fully intended doing so," returned Elinor, “ and I 
have only changed my mind because I feel sure that 
Bride will not be able to settle down comfortably to her 
work while I am here. It will be far wiser for me to 


One Gets Used to Everything 295 


cdtne up later to Grove House and do my winter shop- 
ping; I may possibly spend some weeks in town/' And 
Frances seemed satisfied with this arrangement and raised 
no further objection. 

On Thursday Elinor and Bride had luncheon at Grove 
House, and Frances joined them later in the afternoon. 
Augusta seemed very pleased to see them. She looked 
well and bright, and had grown a little stouter. She 
seemed to be looking forward to her trip with much zest. 
Elinor and Frances agreed afterwards that she looked 
handsomer than ever; the discontented lines around the 
mouth were not so visible, in some respects she seemed 
happier. 

Just before they left, Augusta asked Elinor to come 
into her room for a moment, and then she placed a small 
case in her hand. I have not forgotten that your birth- 
day will be on the thirtieth of October," she said, '' so I 
have got ready my gift beforehand." Then, as Elinor 
opened the case, she gave a little exclamation of pleasure. 

‘‘ Oh, Gussie, how can you part with it — your own 
lovely little sapphire and diamond brooch ! " 

‘‘ I knew how much you always admired it," replied 
Augusta, smiling, and I have more jewellery than I 
care to use. I am so glad you are pleased, Nora ; I wanted 
you to have it " ; and there was a softened look in 
Augusta’s brilliant eyes. 

Frances seemed both surprised and touched when 
Elinor showed her the brooch. ‘‘ It is a peace-offering as 
well as a birthday gift," she said. ''Augusta once told 
me that it was her favourite ornament. It is very gen- 
erous of her. Gussie is a strange mixture. She has fine 
points in her character. She seems to me very much im- 
proved." And both Elinor and Bride endorsed this. 

Elinor took leave of her sisters on Saturday with out- 
ward cheerfulness, but her heart sank a little when she 
drove up to Wildcroft and there was no graceful figure 
in the porch to welcome her. Rufus did all in his power 
to console his mistress. His joy had been almost too ex- 
uberant at first, but he quieted down and sat with his 
tawny head in her lap, and his beautiful eyes full of ador- 
ing worship. Bride had taken Scrap with her to St. 


296 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Monica's, but Flurry was purring and rubbing herself 
against her mistress's dress in her old caressing way, 
and Elinor found the syrrfpathy of her dumb friends very 
comforting. 

The next week Elinor settled down bravely to her 
solitary life. Nearly every morning a letter from Bride 
or Frances greeted her. Frances was too busy a woman 
to write lengthy epistles, but even her shortest note 
seemed helpful. She gave a good report of Bride. She 
was certainly interested in her work, and the regular 
employment gave her no time for brooding. I am very 
careful not to let her overtire herself," Frances wrote 
once. ‘'As I have often told you. Bride does nothing by 
halves, and she would work far too hard if we would let 
her. You will be surprised to hear that we are going up 
to St. James's, Stepney, next Sunday afternoon. Mr. 
Rutherford proposed it, and Bride is so pleased." 

From the first Bride had insisted that Lyall should be 
kept in ignorance of her real motive for coming to St. 
Monica's, and she had begged Frances and Elinor to say 
as little as possible about her in their letters. 

" He will think I have grown tired of my quiet country 
life, and that I have come to Frances for a change, and 
I do not want you to undeceive him " ; and Bride took a 
childish delight in this innocent little deception. Elinor 
occupied herself as much as possible, and she accepted 
all her friends' invitations. She spent several afternoons 
at Marley Grange, and she also frequently went to Mex- 
field Rectory. On her way there she generally called at 
Crow Farm and had an hour's chat with Mrs. Keith, but 
she had always an excuse ready for not staying to a meal. 

She saw Hammond Keith when his business brought 
him to Meadow Thorpe, but she rarely came across Hugh 
Milner. Once she met him at a garden-party at Marley 
Grange, and a week later she encountered him at Rugby, 
and they travelled back to Masked together. Elinor 
thought, as she sat opposite to him, that he seemed de- 
pressed and unlike himself ; but when she hinted at this, 
he said hastily that he was a little overworked, and 
thought that he needed a change and rest. " Not that I 
can take it for the next two months," he continued, " for 


One Gets Used to Everything 297 


I have never been so busy as I am at present.” And then 
he asked her if she were very dull without her sister-in- 
law. 

Elinor answered with well-assumed cheerfulness. 
‘‘ The evenings were certainly a little quiet,” she said, 
‘‘but she was getting used to them, and she was seldom 
without an engagement for the afternoon.” 

“That is why you come so seldom to Crow Farm?” 
he observed. Then Elinor coloured a little and evaded 
the question, but Hugh did not press the point. 

Elinor had no idea of the pain those visits had cost 
him. More than once he had been in his workshop and 
had heard her voice, but when he had come to the tea- 
table expecting to find her, Mrs. Keith told him she had 
gone to Mexfield Rectory, and the bitterness of the disap- 
pointment had spoilt his evening. Elinor wondered why 
he was so silent and ill at ease, but she was conscious 
herself of secret embarrassment. It was almost a relief 
when Masked was reached and she found Joe Twitchett 
and Peggy awaiting her. 

“ You will come with us as far as Meadow Thorpe? ” 
she observed as Hugh folded the rug round her, for the 
October evenings were growing chilly. But he thanked 
her and said his bicycle was in the station, and then he 
lifted his hat and walked away. That evening Elinor's 
thoughts were not cheerful. 

In the middle of October the Warburtons returned 
home, and Elinor felt constrained to pay a duty visit to 
Tylcote Hall. 

To her relief the vicar was absent, but Mrs. Warburton 
received her with her old cordiality. She looked remark- 
ably well, and seemed in her usual spirits, and talked a 
good deal of her daughter. “ My cousin says Agnes is 
growing quite strong,” she observed ; “ her appetite is 
good and she walks well. They do a good deal of sight- 
seeing together, and Agnes seems to enjoy the life. But 
I am sorry to say that Miss Warburton's engagements will 
not allow them to leave Florence before the first week 
in December.” 

Mrs. Warburton seemed disposed to resume her old 
friendly habits for a few days after this. She drove over 


298 


No Friend Like a Sister 


to Wildcroft, and a week later Elinor received an invita- 
tion to a dinner-party. The formal card was accompanied 
by a friendly little note. 

‘'We are expecting some old friends to stay with us/’ 
Mrs. Warburton wrote, “ and we wish to introduce some 
of our neighbours to them. As Mr. and Mrs. Thurston 
have accepted, they will probably be able to bring you 
in their carriage,” and Elinor felt pleased by this consid- 
eration. Indeed, Mrs. Thurston herself proposed it a 
day or two later. “ It will be rather a smart affair,” she 
observed, when they had talked comfortably over the 
arrangements for the evening ; “ I expect the best county 
people will be there. Mrs. Warburton knows how to do 
things, and of course, as you are alone, it will be far 
pleasanter to go with us,” and Elinor accepted this neigh- 
bourly kindness with gratitude. 

She was amused to find how much her thoughts were 
occupied with the coming festivity. In the old days at 
the Boltons, dinner-parties, receptions, and balls had been 
considered by her as ordinary events, and regarded as 
part of the day’s routine; but at Meadow Thorpe the 
dinner-party at Tylcote Hall appeared quite a formidable 
and imposing function. 

“ If it is to be such a smart affair as Mrs. Thurston 
thinks,” she said to herself, “ I suppose I must wear my 
cream satin. Bride always says no other dress suits me 
so well,” And so subtle is feminine vanity even in a 
superior nature, that the thought of wearing her favourite 
dress gave Elinor a passing feeling of pleasure. 

The evening fixed for the dinner-party was not very 
propitious as regards weather. It had been a typical No- 
vember day — raw, cold, damp, with a slight mistiness — 
and as Elinor looked from the window at the somewhat 
depressing prospect, she wondered if Maida Vale was 
veiled in fog. 

It so happened that Hugh Milner had been obliged to 
go to town the previous day on important business, and 
as it detained him until late in the evening, he had slept 
at Acacia Road, to the great joy of his father and Kath- 
leen. 


One Gets Used to Everything 299 


Kathleen, who was clever with her fingers, had just 
finished painting a very pretty piece of pottery which she 
had intended for Elinor's birthday, but ten days had 
passed since then, and she had found no means of con- 
veying it safely. It was a great relief, then, when Hugh 
volunteered to leave it at Wildcroft on his way home. 

He almost repented his promise when he found how 
late it was before he left the station. '' It will be half- 
past six before I get to Wildcroft," he said to himself, 
but of course I shall not stay many minutes ; I shall 
just give Kathleen's message, and see for myself that 
the vase has sustained no injury." Nevertheless, the 
thought of those few minutes made Hugh's heart beat 
more quickly than usual. 


XXXVII 


Elinor Meets Some Old Friends 


For this fair lady who affects thee thus, 

Hath in so great degree transformed thy life, 

That thou dost fear, — so mean art thou become. 

But look how modest and how kind is she, 

And in her greatness wise and courteous. 

Dante. 

The brightly-lighted drawing-room at Wildcroft was a 
very pleasant sight to Hugh's eyes after the dark roads 
and the raw cold of the atmosphere, and he was glad to 
warm his hands at the fire. The maid had told him that 
her mistress was dressing, but would be down directly. 
But almost before she had closed the door, it was opened 
again and Elinor stood on the threshold. 

I was just ready," she said, panting a little with the 
haste she had made ; but the carriage will not be here 
for a quarter of an hour." But Hugh could hardly sum- 
mon up breath to reply — for the moment he felt giddy. 

Could this dazzling figure be really Elinor Gresham! 
As he took her hand with a muttered apology for his late 
visit, he was only conscious of a dull feeling of despair 
settling down like a leaden weight on his heart. How 
beautiful she looked! How queenly and graceful in the 
gleaming satin ! The pearls that clasped her throat 
scarcely showed against its whiteness; only the sapphire 
and diamond brooch fastening the lace at her bosom shone 
brilliantly. Elinor flushed under his gaze, and turned 
aside to lay down her fan and gloves on the table; and 
then she caught sight of the parcel. 

‘‘ That is Kathleen's handwriting," she said eagerly. 
'' I expect it is the little vase that she has been painting 
for me, and you have been kind enough to bring it this 
evening." 

300 


Elinor Meets Some Old Friends 301 


Elinor’s frank, clear tones broke the spell, and Hugh 
pulled himself together. 

I was detained in town last evening/’ he replied, "^so 
I paid a surprise visit to Acacia Road, and Kathleen 
begged me to convey this safely to you. May I open it 
to see that it is all right ? ” 

Then Elinor nodded, and drew on her gloves as she 
watched him. Was it because his hands were cold that 
he bungled so long with the knots? But when the little 
vase was at last uncovered, Elinor was charmed with it. 

'' It is quite lovely,” she said ; '' I had no idea that 
Kathleen could paint so beautifully. There, I wonder 
if you could fasten this bracelet for me, or shall I ring for 
Rachel; for I never can do it myself — the clasp is so 
hard.” But Elinor wished she had not asked his assist- 
ance when she saw how pale he turned. 

I think I can manage it,” he said almost inaudibly ; 

let me try.” But not all his efforts at self-control could 
steady his hands. By the time the bracelet was clasped, 
Elinor was almost as pale as he was. 

Thank you,” she said hurriedly. ‘‘ Oh, there is the 
carriage, and I must not keep it a moment waiting,” and 
she caught up her fur-lined cloak. 

Hugh mechanically took it from her and put it over 
her shoulders. '' No, you must not be late,” he said, but 
he had never asked her where she was going. I hope 
you will have a pleasant evening.” And then as Elinor 
gathered up her train, he put her in the carriage. He 
had no idea whose carriage it was. As he closed the door 
Elinor let down the glass. 

‘‘ Good-night,” she said gently. Thank you so much 
for bringing me the vase. I will write to Kathleen.” But 
he only bowed and drew back into the porch. 

Elinor’s eyes smarted with unshed tears as she leaned 
against the cushions. Hugh’s face haunted her at inter- 
vals during the evening. How white and drawn it had 
looked! She could feel the touch of his shaking hands 
through her glove. Why, when she had bidden him good- 
night, had he made no response, except by that long sad 
look. '' It was as though he were bidding me good-bye 
for ever,” she said to herself, Oh, what can he mean ? ’* 


302 


No Friend Like a Sister 


pressing her hands together in the darkness. But I 
must not think of it. I will not, or I shall not be fit for 
my social duties.’’ And Elinor summoned up all her 
resolution and womanly self-command, and by the time 
Marley Grange was reached she had regained outward 
calmness. 

Most of the guests had arrived, and when the Thurs- 
tons and Elinor entered the long drawing-room at Tylcote 
Hall they found themselves in the midst of a brilliant 
circle. Mrs. Warburton, who looked exceedingly hand- 
some in black velvet and point lace, received them gra- 
ciously. She gave Elinor a quick appreciative look. I 
want to introduce you to my old friends,” she was be- 
ginning; but she was a little taken aback when Elinor 
smiled and held out her hand with a pleased expression to 
a tall, fresh-coloured man standing by them. 

'' Sir Harry Vincent and I are old friends already,” 
she continued ; '' he and Lady Doreen have often been at 
Grove House. Oh, there she is, and I must go and speak 
to her.” And Elinor crossed the room with easy grace 
to the couch where a fair-haired woman was talking to 
the vicar. 

Lady Doreen had never been good-looking even in her 
youth. Indeed, her features were somewhat plain. But 
her expression was so pleasing, and her smile so sweet, 
that people seldom remembered it. Harry Vincent had 
once told his sister in a letter that his future wife was a 
good sort, and he had certainly not changed his opinion 
on this point, for they were the happiest couple in the 
world. 

Elinor had only time for a hurried word of greeting 
before dinner was announced and her attention claimed 
by the gentleman allotted to her. Mr. Sinclair, who was 
also staying at the Hall, was an old college friend of Mr. 
Warburton’s. He was a clever barrister in the prime of 
life and still unmarried, and under other circumstances 
Elinor would have much enjoyed his conversation ; but 
in spite of all her efforts, her thoughts wandered occa- 
sionally. But as Mr. Sinclair seemed perfectly satisfied 
with his companion, her attempts to be agreeable were 
not thrown away. 


Elinor Meets Some Old Friends 303 


Once or twice, when her attention was called to the 
end of the table where Mr. Warburton sat, her eyes en- 
countered the vicar/s, as though he were watching her, 
and the strange fixed glance made her uncomfortable. 
But during the rest of the evening he did not once ap- 
proach her, and seemed absorbed in paying attention to 
the other guests. When dinner was over Elinor had a 
nice little talk with Lady Doreen, and presently Sir Harry 
joined them. They both expressed their regret that their 
engagements and the shortness of their visit would not 
allow them to call at Wildcroft. 

A few minutes later, when Lady Doreen had been car- 
ried ofif by her hostess. Sir Harry said confidentially. 
Do you know, I have just unearthed a nephew in this 
neighbourhood. Miss Gresham. I wonder if you have 
ever come across him — his name is Hugh Milner ? 

The quick colour rose to Elinor's face. Your 
nephew ! " she said in great surprise. Oh yes, we know 
all about him. He is staying at Crow Farm, and is super- 
intending the renovation of the church at Tylcote Street. 
He is very clever." 

So they say. But how astonished you look ! As we 
are old friends and you seem interested, I may as well 
tell you about it, though it is ancient history now. My 
poor mother " — and here Sir Harry's good-natured face 
grew suddenly grave, for Lady Vincent had died the pre- 
vious year — “ and the pater, bless their old hearts, were a 
little mediaeval in their views, and when my sister Janet 
took it into her head to elope with her handsome young 
music-master, there were ructions." 

'' Do you mean that your parents never forgave her ? " 

Well, it looks like it," returned Sir Harry. But I 
know the mater was awfully cut up when she heard of 
her death ; in fact, she never seemed like the same woman 
afterwards. 

I was only a youngster when Janet left home, but 
when I grew up I took it into my head to pay her a visit. 
I found her, poor girl, in a poky little house in St. John's 
Wood ; but she seemed tolerably happy, and delighted to 
see me. I thought Hugh a fine fellow, and quite a Vin- 
cent, and the girl, Kathleen, a taking little creature. My 


304 


No Friend Like a Sister 


brother-in-law too seemed a decent sort of chap/’ And 
then Sir Harry went on to tell Elinor that he had fully 
intended to repeat his visit, but going abroad, and then 
his engagement and marriage, had occupied him. 

He had been much upset to hear of his sister’s deaths 
and had at once written a letter of condolence to his 
brother-in-law. And then he went on to relate how 
Janet’s letter to him had never reached him; that it was 
only a few weeks ago, in turning out his mother’s writing- 
table, that he had come upon it. 

Poor Janet, and she asked me for her sake to be kind 
to her boy Hugh, and if possible to give him a helping 
hand, and all these years I have done nothing.” 

‘‘Yes, I see. How sad it all seems. But you will see 
your nephew now ? ” 

“ Yes, I have made an attempt already. But when I 
called at Crow Farm, he had gone to London, and was 
not expected back until this evening. Mrs. Warburton 
has kindly asked him to dinner to-morrow, and I can get 
him for a talk then. From all accounts I am not likely 
to be ashamed of my nephew. Warburton says he is a 
very good-looking fellow.” 

“ Yes, and Kathleen is charming too. I think you will 
be very pleased with them both. Sir Harry ” — an unde- 
finable feeling of shyness prevented Elinor from saying 
more. 

“ I shall have him to stay with me,” returned Sir 
Harry, “ and very likely I can find a way of helping him. 
And Doreen says we must take some notice of the girl. 
She seems very much interested about them.” But at 
this point they were interrupted. Lady Doreen was going 
to sing, and she wanted her husband to accompany her. 

A little later Elinor found herself beside Mrs. War- 
burton. 

“ You and Sir Harry have had a long conversation,” 
she said graciously. “ I suppose he has told you the news 
about Mr. Milner?” 

“ Oh yes, and I confess I was very much surprised.” 
Elinor tried to speak naturally. 

“ Of course we were very much surprised too,” replied 
Mrs. Warburton; “ the Milners have kept things so quiet. 


Elinor Meets Some Old Friends 305 


One sees now from whom Hugh Milner has inherited 
that air of distinction. He is very like his grandfather, 
Sir Walter. Of course such an idea never entered my 
head before, but when I have been speaking to Mr. Milner 
I have been puzzled by some vague likeness to some one 
I knew.” 

Sir Harry seems quite eager to make his acquaint- 
ance,” observed Elinor. 

‘‘ Yes. He and Lady Doreen rushed oif to Crow 
Farm directly, but Mr. Milner had gone to town. We are 
asking him to dinner to-morrow. Oh, the Thurstons are 
going, and I must not keep you.” 

But Elinor was not sorry to break off the conversation. 
Mrs. Warburton’s patronising tone always vexed her. 
Hugh had never been invited to Tylcote Hall before. It 
would not be so easy to snub him now. Hugh Milner, a 
struggling, hard-working young architect, was one per- 
son, Sir Walter Vincent’s grandson and the nephew of the 
rich, prosperous Sir Harry, the master of Salcott Grange, 
was a very different and far more desirable individual. 

Elinor had plenty of food for her thoughts that night. 

“ If I could only see him and tell him how glad I am,” 
she said to herself. And then as she laid her head on the 
pillow, I think I could find something to say that would 
make him look less sad.” 

The following morning was wet, and Elinor, who felt 
unusually restless, tried to occupy herself by writing long 
letters to Lyall and Frances. 

The rain cleared after luncheon, but the soaking paths 
offered no inducement to go out. She therefore settled 
down by the fireside for a quiet afternoon’s reading. She 
was so sure that no visitor would invade her privacy, that 
she was quite startled when the door-bell rang and the 
next moment Jenny announced Mr. Warburton. 

Elinor was intensely surprised, though she tried to hide 
it. Mr. Warburton had only once called on them, and 
then his mother had been with him. But to come alone 
on such a day! Elinor felt vaguely uneasy. His man- 
ner, too, was hardly reassuring. 

You are very much surprised to see me,” he said, 
giving her one of his piercing looks ; '' but I have come on 
20 


306 


No Friend Like a Sister 


rather important business — I may say very important 
business/' with a singular emphasis on the last two words. 

'' But you will sit down ? " returned Elinor hurriedly ; 
and if it is not too early, I will ring for tea/' And she 
was moving to the fireplace, but he put up his hand to 
stop her. 

I would rather not. It is not nearly four, and five 
o'clock is my hour. We are all creatures of habit, Miss 
Gresham." Then as Elinor sat down he did not at once 
follow her example, though she mutely pointed to the 
chair opposite to her. 

Thanks, I would rather stand for a little, while I un- 
fold my business." But Elinor interrupted him. 

I hope your mother is none the worse for all her 
fatigue last night," she said rather nervously. 

'' She is perfectly well, thanks. My mother is very 
sociable by nature, and she is never happier than when 
her friends are gathered round her. I am afraid I have 
been remiss, I ought to have asked you if you reached 
home comfortably." 

'' Oh yes, the Thurstons took such good care of me. 
I think we all enjoyed ourselves, and it was so delightful 
to meet our old friends the Vincents again." But Mr. 
Warburton waved aside the subject with a gesture of 
impatience. 

Pardon me, but we will not discuss that now — my 
mind is too full of other matters. Miss Gresham, I don't 
wish to startle you, but I think you will be prepared for 
what I have to say. I have come this afternoon to ask 
you to be my wife." 


XXXVIII 


Gale Warburton’s Wooing 


Why should a man, whose blood is warm within, 

Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster? 

The Merchant of Venice. 

Truth is our only armour in all passages of life and death. — 
Emerson. 

Elinor turned very pale; for a moment she could not 
speak — she felt as though some nightmare oppressed her. 
The room was growing dark and shadowy ; only the blaz- 
ing logs made a circle of brightness, partially obscured by 
the tall black figure that seemed to tower over her like 
some stern, inexorable Fate. If she had only rung for 
lights — if he would sit down and give her room to breathe. 
She wanted to ask him to stop, to say no more, but she 
could not utter the words. 

I am afraid, after all, I have taken you somewhat by 
surprise,’’ went on the smooth, measured voice ; but I 
beg you not to agitate yourself, for there is no need to 
answer me at present. There is much that I have to say 
to you — that I want to explain to you carefully.” But 
Elinor looked at him appealingly; she had regained her 
breath. 

Please do not say any more, Mr. Warburton ; it would 
not be right for me to listen.” But she might as well have 
spoken to the wind. 

“ Pardon me if I differ from you there,” he returned 
calmly ; I owe it to myself to offer you some explana- 
tion of my change of purpose, and I must request you to 
listen to me for a few moments. Miss Gresham, I have 
never regarded myself as a marrying man ; the idea that 
a wife was necessary to my happiness had never occurred 
to me. I doubt whether it ever would have done so if you 
had not come to Meadow Thorpe.” 

307 


808 


No Friend Like a Sister 


“ Oh stop — please stop ! ’’ implored Elinor. But he 
only looked at her with his grave, inscrutable smile and 
went on. 

'' Do not be afraid ; one is bound to be gentle with a 
woman, and I have no intention of agitating you. I will 
sit down and we will talk over the matter quietly.” But 
to Elinor’s dismay he took a seat beside her where the 
firelight played upon her face. She would have drawn 
back if she could, but her chair was heavy, so she took 
up a little hand-screen that lay near her. 

“ I was saying that the idea of matrimony had never 
seriously entered my thoughts,” continued Mr. Warbur- 
ton. It seemed that my work and my mother’s society 
were sufficient for my happiness. Miss Gresham, it is 
impossible for me to say this now. The last few months 
I have held counsel with myself. I have told myself that 
a man is bound in the course of nature to outlive his 
mother, and that if I lost her my life would be very 
lonely, and that, though my work would remain, even 
books could not wholly replace the comfort of human 
companionship. Will you allow me to tell you that you 
are responsible for these thoughts ? ” 

I — I — oh, you are making a grievous mistake, Mr. 
Warburton ; for your own sake and mine, I beg you to 
say no more.” But she might as well have tried to check 
a torrent, for the deep musical tones went on. 

“ When I saw you, the whole plan and purpose of my 
life seemed changed ; for it seemed to me that Providence 
had sent to me the only woman whom I could make my 
wife. Your gentleness and intelligence and good sense 
appealed irresistibly to me. I have watched you carefully, 
and I think I may say that your virtues and failings are 
alike known to me, and as far as a man can promise to 
love and cherish a woman— ^ — ” But Elinor could bear 
no more. 

Mr. Warburton, it is not right for me to listen to all 
this, but I have begged you more than once to stop. I 
thank you most gratefully for the honour you have done 
me, but it is impossible — I cannot marry you. I have 
never for one moment given you any encouragement to 
think I would do so.” 


Gale Warburton’s Wooing 


309 


I have not looked for any encouragement,” he re- 
turned quietly ; ‘‘ I preferred to wait until the time came 
for speaking. Last night I felt it had come, but I would 
not trust myself to approach you then ; besides, my guests 
claimed all my attention. Miss Gresham, I have much 
to offer. My wife will have all she needs for comfort 
and luxury ; and as for my mother, she will be prepared 
to welcome you as a daughter.” 

Elinor rose from her chair; her position was simply 
intolerable to her. 

She is very good,” she returned coldly, but she will 
never be asked to receive me in that capacity. Mr. War- 
burton, you must excuse me, but this conversation must 
end. Nothing on earth would induce me to be your 
wife. Forgive me if I speak brusquely, but you will not 
take my answer.” 

“ I do not think that you know your own mind. Miss 
Gresham, but I am willing to give you time to think over 
it — a week, a month, even three months, if you will.” 

“A year would make no difference,” returned Elinor, 
indignant at this persistence. '' Mr. Warburton, why are 
you so blind? Do we think alike on one single point? 
Your thoughts, your tastes are not mine, they never could 
be. I could never be anything to you but an acquaintance 
or friend. If I ever marry, it will be because I love and 
honour some one with my whole heart.” 

“ You are perfectly right,” he returned calmly, and I 
do not at all despair of winning your affections. You 
must forgive me if I say one word more — that I cannot 
accept your answer as final; your mind is too disturbed 
and agitated to do me full justice, I will speak to you 
again.” 

No — no, you must never do that.” But his only 
answer was to take her hand in his firm grasp. 

‘‘ Good-bye,” was all he said, and the next moment he 
had left the room. A minute later she heard the sound of 
the closing door, and to her relief Jenny entered with the 
lamp. 

It was long before Elinor could regain her calmness, 
her nerves felt so shaken and disturbed. She knew now 
that this was why she had been afraid to trust herself 


310 


No Friend Like a Sister 


alone with him, and why her heart had sunk when he had 
entered the room. No man had ever affected her so 
strangely. She did not absolutely dislike him, but she 
certainly feared him more than any one she had ever met. 
Any other man would have taken her answer as final, but 
Mr. Warburton had simply refused to accept it; he had 
waved aside all her objections as though they were futile 
and womanish. I have much to offer you,’’ he had said 
to her, and in some respects the words were true. 

'' He will not open his eyes to see the truth,” she told 
herself that evening. He has nothing, nothing that I 
should care to take. Gale Warburton’s wife ! Heaven for- 
give me, I would rather die ! ” And then Elinor broke 
down and cried a little, because she was so lonely and she 
wanted some one to comfort her ; but before the evening 
had ended she had made up her mind that she must seek 
safety in flight. 

The solitary life at Wildcroft was impossible under the 
circumstances. She must be near Frances and Bride. 
Before she went to bed that night she wrote two notes — 
one to Mrs. Huntley, to tell her that she was coming up 
to town for some weeks, and would probably arrive at 
Grove House on Thursday, and that Rachel would accom- 
pany her; and also a short note to Frances. 

‘‘ I find that my solitude is beginning to depress me,” she wrote, 
‘‘ so I have made up my mind rather suddenly to take up my 
quarters for the present at Grove House; and this time I shall 
bring Rufus with me, the poor dear fellow was so unhappy when 
I left him behind. If I can possibly get all my business settled, 
I shall hope to turn up at the Boltons the day after to-morrow, 
and of course I shall come to St. Monica’s the very next day. 
Oh dear, how I do want you both ! — Your loving but excessively 
sleepy sister, Nora.” 

'' Now, I wonder what has happened,” Frances said to 
herself as she read Elinor’s hurried note ; ‘‘ her last letter 
was written in such good spirits.” But for more reasons 
than one Frances was relieved to know that Elinor pro- 
posed to take up her quarters at Grove House. 

Elinor worked feverishly at her preparations the next 
day. There was much to be done ; for besides her packing 
she had to arrange for her household during her absence. 


Gale Warburton’s Wooing 


311 


And when everything was settled to the best of her ability, 
and the evening closed in, she wrote three letters. The 
first, which was very brief, was to Mrs. Warburton, to 
express her regret that sudden business obliged her to go 
to town, and that she would be unable to call at Tylcote 
Hall. Elinor felt a little twinge of conscience as she 
framed this Machiavelian sentence, but she told herself 
that business was a comprehensive term, and included 
dressmakers and milliners as well as dentists or lawyers. 
Then she wrote a friendly little note to Mrs. Thurston to 
the same purpose. 

Her last was a longer one to Mrs. Keith, but even to 
her it was impossible to be more explicit ; but she could 
express her regret with more freedom, that she had been 
far too busy all day to drive over to Crow Farm to say 
good-bye. And then she sent messages to Hammond 
Keith and Hugh Milner. Will you tell Mr. Milner, 
with my kindest regards,’’ she wrote, that I congratulate 
him on his new relations? And please tell him that Sir 
Harry Vincent and Lady Doreen are quite old friends of 
ours, and that I was delighted to meet them at Tylcote 
Hall that night, and that I hope he means to cultivate 
their acquaintance.” Here Elinor paused, hesitated, and 
then wrote on hurriedly. '' I little thought that evening 
when he was kind enough to bring me Kathleen’s parcel, 
that I should be starting off to town in this hurry, and 
even now I have no idea how long I shall remain.” 

Elinor felt easier when this letter was written, but noth- 
ing could still that dull ache at her heart. If she could 
only have seen Hugh before she left Meadow Thorpe; 
if she could only have carried away a happier remem- 
brance of him. Her one comfort was that she would see 
Kathleen frequently. Kathleen corresponded constantly 
with her brother, and always told him every scrap of news 
that was likely to interest him, and in this way she would 
hear of him constantly. '' Even if I could brave things 
out, and stay on here,” she said to herself, it would be 
no use, for he would not come near me, and I could hardly 
go to Crow Farm.” And then Elinor sighed again, and 
thought how difficult and tiresome life had suddenly be- 
come; even Wildcroft was no longer a haven of peace. 


312 


No Friend Like a Sister 


I don’t think I shall ever dare to be here alone,” she 
went on ; and a shiver passed through her, as the memory 
of Gale Warburton occurred to her. 

The following afternoon Elinor arrived at Grove 
House, and found the rooms ready for her. 

The upstairs sitting-room which she and Bride had oc- 
cupied was too dismantled for use, but Mrs. Huntley had 
prepared the dining-room and the morning-room for her 
occupation. The latter was a very comfortable, well- 
furnished apartment — only Augusta had monopolised it. 

The room looked homely and inviting with its blazing 
fire and little tea-table. On the tray was a note from 
Bride. 

It was full of regret that she had been unable to receive 
her, and to help her settle in. ‘‘ It would have been so 
delicious to have spent the first evening with you,” she 
wrote ; but we are short-handed to-day, and I did not 
like to inconvenience Frances. She sends her love, and 
expects that you will spend a long day at St. Monica’s to- 
morrow, and she quite hope’s to be free all the afternoon.” 
And then Bride concluded with a few more loving words. 

Elinor, who knew the ways of St. Monica’s Lodge by 
this time, thought it better to have a hasty luncheon and 
arrive early in the afternoon. And she had her reward, 
for she found Frances all ready and waiting for her. 
Bride was on duty, but would be down to tea. 

Frances, who thought that Elinor looked pale and wor- 
ried and unlike herself, could not rest until she was in 
possession of the whole story. She was intensely sur- 
prised, but full of sympathy for her sister. 

‘‘ Poor dear Nora,” she said, caressing her sister’s hand, 
‘‘ no wonder you were scared out of your wits. Of course, 
Mr. Warburton is paying you a very high compliment in 
asking you to be his wife and the mistress of Tylcote Hall, 
but I agree with you that nothing could be more unsuit- 
able or less to be desired. Indeed, I can go further than 
that, for I should pity the woman from my heart who 
could bring herself to marry him.” 

Oh, Frances, how thankful I am to hear you say 
that.” 

He is a man who ought never to marry,” continued 


Gale Warburton’s Wooing 


313 


Frances severely, for he could not make his wife happy. 
I should think his ideas of love are extremely elementary. 
Now don't look so miserable, Nora. It is no fault of 
yours that this thing has happened. You have given Mr. 
Warburton no encouragement, and you cannot help it if 
he considers himself in love with you. He must take his 
answer as any other man would, and any persistence on 
his part will be simply futile. You have done a wise thing 
to come away at once — if anything will open his eyes, 
that will do so.'' 

If I were only not so afraid of him," sighed Elinor ; 
but he seems to affect me in such a strange way." But 
Frances would not listen to this. 

‘'Your nerves have been a little unhinged," she said 
sensibly, “ but you must try and put all this out of your 
mind. Don't you remember what Shakespeare says, 
‘ Men have died from time to time and worms have eaten 
them, but not for love '? I do not think Mr. Warburton 
is likely to suffer long or very greatly." And then for 
the first time a smile came to Elinor's anxious face. 

No one was so comforting as Frances, she thought; 
and after a little more talk she grew more cheerful, and 
consented to take a less tragical view of the matter. 

“ You can tell Bride when I have gone," she said pres- 
ently, and the words had hardly passed her lips when 
Bride entered and broke up the tete-d-tete. It was a 
happy evening, and Elinor forgot her troubles in the 
society of such dear companions. Bride looked sweet in 
her nurse's dress. She was a little graver than usual, and 
Elinor thought that her face had a softer and more 
womanly expression. 

“ Even in these few weeks Bride has grown," she said 
later to Frances, when she was putting on her hat. 

“ Oh yes, she has grown," returned Frances softly. 
“ When Lyall comes home, he will find his child-wife a 
woman," 


XXXIX 


The Unexpected Happens 


I bow before the noble mind 

That freely some great wrong forgives ; 

Yet nobler is the one forgiven 
Who bears that burden well and lives. 

A. A. Procter. 


As one lamp lights another, nor grows less. 

So nobleness enkindles nobleness. 

Lowell. 

After a few days, Elinor settled down comfortably in 
the old home. She found plenty of occupation at first in 
renovating her winter wardrobe and in giving Rufus 
exercise. She also looked up her old friends, especially 
Lady Templeton. Indeed, the days hardly seemed long 
enough for all she had to do. Frances and Bride often 
spent the evening with her, and she went frequently to 
St. Monica’s Lodge. One of her first expeditions was 
to Acacia Road, where she received a warm welcome 
from Kathleen and her father. 

It must be confessed that Elinor felt a slight shock 
when she first caught sight of the shabby little house, 
which in its outward aspect spoke so forcibly of a life- 
time of poverty and struggle. It was for this poor home 
that Janet Vincent had exchanged the luxury and refine- 
ment of her life at Salcott Grange, and for love’s dear 
sake had never repented the sacrifice. After a time, 
however, Elinor lost this impression, and became quite 
attached to the little house. In spite of its shabbiness and 
worn furniture, there was an air of homeliness and com- 
fort that appealed to her. Kathleen was evidently a clever 
' little housekeeper, and her capable hands had done won- 
,ders. She had just finished covering the two easy-chairs 
and couch in the sitting-room with some tapestry she had 


The Unexpected Happens 


315 


picked up as a bargain, and which she proudly pointed out 
to her friend. 

‘‘ Hugh was so pleased with my industry,’’ she said 
laughingly, that he has promised to give me stuff for a 
pair of curtains. I think I shall have dark blue plushette, 
that will match the tapestry nicely, and then we shall look 
quite smart.” 

A few days later Elinor carried off Kathleen to the 
Boltons, and a blissful ten days followed. 

Kathleen wrote rapturous descriptions of her visit to 
Hugh. Dear Elinor had been so good to her ; she had 
actually taken her twice to the theatre, and to a splendid 
concert at St. James’s Hall, and they had dined with Lady 
Templeton, and spent an evening at St. Monica’s Lodge, 
and she had never had such a good time in her life.” 

Kathleen had more than one interesting scrap of in- 
formation to retail to her friend, as they sat at their cosy 
breakfast-table at the Boltons. 

Hugh has spent a week-end at Salcott Grange,” she 
exclaimed one morning, and he is in love with the place. 
He says the Grange itself is one of the most picturesque 
and beautiful old buildings that he has ever seen, and that 
the gardens are lovely. Wait a moment, I will read you 
the next bit. ‘ Sir Harry is a rattling good fellow, and we 
are getting quite chums. And I like Lady Doreen im- 
mensely; she is thoroughly kind-hearted and free from 
nonsense. And the kids — they have three boys — are jolly 
little chaps. I am to go for a longer visit when I can get 
off work. And, by the bye, Kitten, Lady Doreen insists 
that you are to come too, so you had better look sharp and 

attend to your toggery. I ’ Oh well, I had better 

not go on, as Hugh might not like it.” But a little gentle 
pressing on Elinor’s part elicited the fact that Hugh, dear 
fellow, was going to send her some money for a new win- 
ter dress and hat, and a frock for the evening. 

Just listen to this, Elinor,” and Kathleen’s face dim- 
pled with amusement. ‘‘ ‘ I want you to get the sort of 
thing Miss Gresham wears ’ — I suppose he means your 
tailor-made tweed — ‘ something good and well cut — I 
daresay Miss Gresham will advise you. And you will 
want some strong new boots for the country. Lady 


316 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Doreen is a great walker/ Oh, the next is private. 
And then he sends his kindest regards to you, and thaf s 
all.^^ 

‘‘ I can certainly help you,’’ returned Elinor, but she 
coloured slightly as she spoke, for I know a very good 
dressmaker whose charges are wonderfully moderate, and 
we might speak to her about your frocks when I do my 
shopping.” 

Elinor was as good as her word, and matters were soon 
set in train, and she took advantage of their increasing 
intimacy to make a few additions on her own account. 
The dainty little muff and umbrella and the gloves and 
handkerchiefs were offered timidly and accepted with 
girlish gratitude. 

How could I refuse when she is so dear and good ! ” 
wrote Kathleen. ''If she had been my own sister, she 
could not have been kinder.” 

A dark flush came to Hugh Milner’s face when he read 
this. " How can she help being kind, it is her nature ! ” 
he said to himself. And then, as he remembered the 
queenly figure in the gleaming satin, he bit his lip, but 
there was a mist before his eyes. And yet the thought 
that Kathleen was with her gave him a feeling of comfort. 

Elinor would have kept her longer if it had been pos- 
sible, but Kathleen could not leave her father for more 
than ten days. And the house felt very dull when she had 
gone. 

It was now the end of the second week in December, 
and she was expecting a letter from Agnes Warburton 
to tell her of her arrival at Tylcote Hall ; but more than 
once Miss Warburton had delayed their return, and 
Elinor was afraid there had been some further postpone- 
ment. She hoped that this was not the case, as she was 
aware that Agnes was anxious to be home before Christ- 
mas. 

Elinor had promised to spend the afternoon at St. Mon- 
ica’s Lodge, and she was walking up Maida Vale thinking 
of poor Agnes and all her troubles, when her attention 
was attracted by a hansom which had just stopped at the 
gate of St. Monica’s Lodge, and a gentleman, evidently a 
clergyman, alighted. Elinor knew that the young wife 


The Unexpected Happens 


317 


of a country clergyman had arrived a few days previously 
to undergo rather a serious operation. She knew also that 
it had taken place, and that, as far as they could judge, 
the patient was doing well. This was doubtless Mrs. 
Cuthbert's husband, and Elinor felt a little movement of 
sympathetic curiosity. 

He had paid the driver, and was evidently searching 
for a bell. '' You will find the gate open,” she observed 
in her clear quiet tones, and at the sound of her voice the 
clergyman turned round. And then Elinor gave an ex- 
clamation which made two passers-by stare at her. 

Lyall, Lyall — oh, my dear Lyall ! ” And Elinor put 
out her hand as though to assure herself that she was 
not dreaming, and that it was actually her brother in flesh 
and blood who stood before her. 

'' You don’t mean to say it is dear old Elinor! ” he re- 
turned in equal astonishment. Why, what luck, when I 
only expected to find Frances 1 ” 

Hush, we cannot talk here,” observed Elinor, be- 
coming aware of some grinning street boys who were 
watching them; and still keeping her hand on his arm, 
she opened the gate and closed it behind them. Here 
they were in comparative privacy as far as passers-by 
were concerned. And then, heedless of the many win- 
dows of St. Monica’s Lodge, Elinor threw her arms round 
her brother’s neck. 

Dear old fellow,” she said tenderly, “ what happiness 
to see your face again ! But I cannot understand what it 
means.” 

Then Lyall laughed and kissed her again. I thought 
I would take you all by surprise,” he returned, ‘‘ but I 
shall repent if you are going to look so pale over it. Have 
I startled you too much, my dear?” watching her anx- 
iously. For it was evident that Elinor was so agitated 
that she could scarcely keep the tears back. 

‘‘ It was such a surprise,” she said unsteadily ; I 
thought it was a strange clergyman, and then you turned 
round. Let me look at you, Lyall. You are thinner 
and a little older, but you are looking well.” 

Yes, the voyage rested me, and I am so glad to be 
home, Nora. I don’t believe Frances will be very much 


318 


No Friend Like a Sister 


surprised ; I gave her a hint that I might be home before 
Christmas/' 

'' Did you, dear ? " but Elinor answered absently, for 
she was gazing at him with her heart in her eyes. 

No, he was not changed. It was the same dear face, 
a little worn and ascetic-looking, with the frank deep-set 
eyes so like Frances', and the sweetness of expression 
which marks one whose thoughts are habitually high and 
noble. It was still the face of the enthusiast and dreamer, 
but the dreams had become reality. 

They were walking towards the house, but she was still 
holding his arm. '' Nora," he said abruptly, you do not 
tell me how Bride is, and I have missed the last mail. 
Have you left her alone at Meadow Thorpe ? " 

Bride is here, Lyall." 

Here — in this house ? " and now it was Lyall's turn to 
change colour. '' I thought by this time her visit would 
have ended." 

'' No, she is still at St. Monica’s, and I am at Grove 
House. Lyall dear, do not let us stand here, the wind 
is so cold. I will take you to Frances, and she will 
explain." 

Then he followed her into the house like a man in a 
dream. It had not entered into his thoughts that Bride 
would be at St. Monica's. Now he began to repent his 
boyish impulsiveness. If the surprise had upset Elinor, 
would not the shock of his sudden return startle Bride, 
whose nature was so emotional. 

'' I meant to write to her from here," he said to himself, 
as he walked down the corridor leading to Sister 
Gresham's room. 

Elinor waved him back a moment as she opened the 
door. Frances, who was at her writing-table, gave a 
pleased little exclamation. I was not expecting you for 
another half-hour," she said. And then something in 
Elinor’s face made her lay down her pen and rise hastily. 

I have a great surprise for you, Frances ; I have 
brought an unexpected visitor." Then Frances put her 
aside unceremoniously. 

It is Lyall," she said quite calmly, let me go to him." 
And then a great brightness came into her eyes, as she 


The Unexpected Happens 


319 


caught sight of him. He was their only brother, and they 
dearly loved him, and they had not seen his face for 
nearly three years, was it any wonder that even Sister 
Gresham’s eyes were somewhat moist? 

Frances soon recovered herself^ and then she spoke of 
Bride. She did not say much, but in a few quiet words 
she made Lyall understand that some wonderful change 
had come to Bride. She has been making herself very 
unhappy about her unwifely conduct, and she is so afraid 
that you will not trust her or believe in her good resolu- 
tions. And so she thought,” went on Frances, ‘‘ that she 
would like to do something to prove to you that she was 
in earnest ; and that if you found her here, nursing sick 
people and trying to comfort them, you might in time be- 
lieve in her again. Bride is still the same dear child, you 
see. 

But Lyall could not answer ; his hands were before his 
face, and his inward cry, Oh, my God can this be true ! ” 
reached no human ear. Had he come home to this ! 

It was at this crucial moment, when the sisters were 
both silent, awed by the sight of a strong man’s emotion, 
that the door opened, and Bride in her nursing dress, and 
her face as bright as a spring morning, came quickly into 
the room. At the sight of the figure in clerical attire, she 
hesitated and drew back. Like Elinor she believed it was 
Mrs. Cuthbert’s husband. Please excuse me, Frances,” 
she said. I thought ” but Bride’s sweet voice fal- 

tered and a frightened look came into her eyes as Lyall 
sprang to his feet. 

Bride ! Oh, my darling — my darling, do not look so 
scared ! ” Lyall’s arms were round her, and he was press- 
ing the white, startled face closely to him. Then Frances 
touched Elinor, and they noiselessly left the room. But 
Frances’ quick ear caught the sound of a stifled sob as 
she closed the door. 

‘‘ Come up to my room, Elinor, there is a fire there,” 
she said quickly ; no one must interrupt them — Lyall 
must have his wife to himself.” And then Frances went 
away to give her orders that no one was to go near the 
Sister’s room; and on her return the two sisters talked 
together of the wonderful thing that had happened. '‘And 


320 


No Friend Like a Sister 


they say there are no miracles nowadays/' observed 
Frances softly. 

One hour passed and then a second before Frances an- 
nounced her intention of interrupting the tete-d-tete. 

'' I daresay the fire will be out, and they will be talking 
in the darkness; Lyall will be in too exalted a state of 
mind to think of creature comforts. If you will come 
down in a few minutes, Elinor, I will ring for lights and 
tea; I don’t feel myself as though I have seen the dear 
boy yet.” 

Things were pretty much as Frances had surmised. 
The fire had burnt down, and as she groped her way to 
the bell, she could only dimly distinguish Bride’s white 
cap and light cotton dress. She was evidently sitting on 
the rug at her husband’s feet, but at the first gleam of 
the lamplight she sprang up and would have run away, 
but Lyall held her fast. 

'' Don’t be afraid, love, I will screen you.” But Frances 
took no notice. She pretended to scold them playfully as 
she put on wood and stirred the dull embers into a flame. 

Bring the tea quickly, Myra,” she said briskly, as the 
maid placed the lamp on the table. And then she pulled 
down the blinds and closed the curtains, so that the Sis- 
ter’s room looked like a nest of warm cosiness. Only 
Bride’s swollen eyes and dark dishevelled hair spoke 
volumes. 

Frances looked at her brother smilingly. Dear 
Lyall,” she said brightly, you must not keep Bride a 
prisoner in that corner ; let her go and bathe her poor eyes 
and smooth her hair, and then she will be more com- 
fortable.” And then Bride gave her a grateful look and 
escaped; but all the time Lyall talked to his sisters his 
eyes wandered to the door. 

There was no need for questions, the deep joy in Lyall’s 
eyes was sufficiently eloquent. Evidently the reconcilia- 
tion was complete. With all his shortcomings and his 
mistakes, he had been faithful, and had given his services 
ungrudgingly to his Master’s work. What those years 
had been to Lyall only his wife could ever know, and not 
even to her, dearly as she learnt to love him, did he ever 
reveal those hours of deadly home and heart sickness, 


The Unexpected Happens 321 

when his whole soul cried out passionately for his wife’s 
love. 

Through much tribulation we must enter into the 
Kingdom of Heaven, — those were the Apostle’s words,” 
he said long after to her ; but in those days I understood 
what the crucifixion of self meant, and oh the pain of it ! ” 
''And it was all my fault,” Bride answered penitently ; 
but he would not allow her to finish the sentence. If 
Lyall’s sensitive nature made him suffer more than most 
men, he knew how to forgive nobly, and as far as he was 
concerned, the memory of Bride’s unwifely desertion was 
utterly blotted out. 


XL 


“ The Call Has Come " 


Life is only bright, when it proceedeth 
Towards a truer, deeper Life above; 

Human Love is sweetest when it leadeth 
To a more divine and perfect Love. 

A. A. Procter. 


Success and happiness are only to be had in giving up our own 
will. — General Gordon. 

It would have been difficult to find four happier people 
than those gathered round Sister Gresham’s little tea-table 
that evening. 

Bride was the only silent one; her heart was too full 
for speech. Lyall had forgiven her, and she was going 
to be good — so good; but if she could only run away 
somewhere and hide herself, that was what she was saying 
to herself, as the food lay untasted on her plate. Only 
when a few low-toned words from Lyall reached her ears. 
Bride gave him one of her shy upward glances. Perhaps 
Lyall understood her, for he talked mostly to his sisters, 
and when tea was over they gathered round the fire. 
Frances shaded the lamp and Bride crept like a little 
mouse into her corner, with her hand in Lyall’s, listening 
as he narrated some of his experiences — touching little 
stories of hardship and poverty and suffering, and parting 
scenes between him and the people to whom he had min- 
istered. Now and then as Bride listened her cheek rested 
for a moment against his coat-sleeve with a mute caress. 
Oh how good he was, how true and noble ! why had she 
never realised it before? Long afterwards Bride said to 
Elinor in her frank, child-like way : 

Of course I was very stupid and dense, but I never 
really knew how much I cared for Lyall until he startled 
me that day at St. Monica’s Lodge, and then a veil seemed 
322 


The Call Has Come 


323 


to fall from my eyes. But is it not strange, Nora, he will 
have it that I must have cared for him a little all the time/^ 
And Bride looked delightfully happy when Elinor assured 
her that Lyall was probably right. 

By and by^ when Sister Gresham had to go on her 
rounds, Elinor went with her, and the wife and husband 
were left alone. Then Lyall drew Bride out of her dark 
corner, and taking the pale little face between his hands, 
looked at it long and fondly. 

‘‘ Sweetheart,” he said tenderly, I thought you prom- 
ised me this afternoon that you would never be afraid of 
me again.” 

I don't think I am so very much afraid,” stammered 
Bride, with a lovely flush, only I cannot talk.” Then 
Lyall pressed her closer to him. 

‘‘ Darling, you need not tell me, I quite understand, 
you know I always could read your thoughts. Bride, have 
you any idea how I hate to leave you to-night, for I have 
to go to Grove House with Elinor; but Frances says I 
may come quite early to-morrow, and then I shall insist 
on carrying you off.” 

‘‘ But, Lyall,” with a shy, startled look, ought I not 
to go on nursing for a little? I am afraid Frances will 
miss me.” 

Frances and I will settle all that to-morrow,” returned 
Lyall in a masterful voice, that proved that in spite of his 
goodness he had a will of his own. Bride had heard that 
tone once or twice before in her life, and her head drooped 
a little. Then he gave a boyish laugh and kissed her. 

'' What a child you are still, my darling! But Frances 
is a sensible woman, and will give us no trouble.” And 
then his voice changed a little. ‘‘ I don't think our first 
honeymoon was quite a success, sweet one, but our second 
one shall make up for it.” But what more Lyall would 
have said was known only to himself, for at that moment 
Frances came back to say that she was likely to be de- 
tained some time, and as it was growing very late, she 
must really send him and Elinor away, as they wanted to 
close the house. 

, You can come as early as you like to-morrow,” she 
continued, '' and Bride shall be all ready for you,” — and 


324 


No Friend Like a Sister 


then a look full of significance passed between the brother 
and sister, — but Bride is utterly spent and weary with 
all this excitement, and must go to bed/’ And as Lyall 
felt the force of this reasoning, his leave-taking was a 
brief one. 

In spite of her other duties, Frances never left Bride 
until the poor little tired head was on the pillow ; then she 
told her in a bracing voice that she must leave all thoughts 
for the morning and go to sleep. '' Lyall must see your 
eyes without red rims round them to-morrow,” she said 
severely; and then she would have left the room, but 
Bride held her fast. 

Don’t be Gampish, Francie. How could I help crying 
when Lyall was so dear and good to me? Oh, I am 
so happy! I feel like Christian when his burden rolled 
off — as though I could sing for sheer joy, only I am so 
very, very tired.” But Frances took no notice of this 
speech.” 

‘‘ I am going to turn out the gas,” she said calmly, 
and in half-an-hour I shall peep in on you ; and if you 
are not asleep, I shall have a scolding ready.” But 
though Bride protested that she was far too excited to 
close her eyes, Frances had the satisfaction of finding her 
at the allotted half-hour sleeping as placidly as an infant — 
the hand with the wedding-ring pressed under her cheek. 

Frances kept her word nobly. When Lyall appeared 
the next morning, Bride came down to him in her ordi- 
nary dress, with her beautiful hair uncovered. To Lyall’s 
delight she told him that Frances had insisted on her 
packing her things, and had absolutely refused to keep 
her a day longer. She had even said good-bye to the 
patients and nurses. 

Good old Frances, I knew she would turn up 
trumps ! ” was Lyall’s somewhat unclerical remark to this. 

So, after luncheon, Lyall carried off his wife; but on 
their way to the Boltons he told her that he had had quite 
an argument with Elinor. 

Will you believe it, Bride, Nora actually wanted to 
pack up and be off to Meadow Thorpe, because she was 
sure that she would be in our way, and that we should 
be far happier without her? ” 


The Call Has Come 


325 


Oh, Lyall, but you will not let her go ! exclaimed 
Bride in much distress. Dear Elinor, as though she 
could ever be in any one’s way ! ” 

I told her you would say that, and that I would not 
hear of it for a moment, and that she ought not to talk 
such nonsense to old married people. Why, we have been 
married over three years. She had to give in at last, 
when she saw I was in earnest. I told her that by and by 
we would all go down to Wildcroft together, as I wanted 
to have a look at the old place. So that’s settled.” And 
then Lyall gave himself up to enjoyment. 

Elinor was not sorry to be allowed to remain at Grove 
House, but she took care that her presence should not be- 
come irksome, and Lyall and Bride spent most of the day 
in each other’s society. Elinor was so full of engage- 
ments. She explained to them carefully that she had her 
Christmas shopping to do, and that Frances would expect 
her to spend at least two afternoons a week at St. Mon- 
ica’s Lodge; and then there were Kathleen and Lady 
Templeton and half-a-dozen other intimate friends with 
whom she must have luncheon or afternoon tea. And so 
it was that the trio were seldom together except at break- 
fast and late dinner; indeed, if Lyall had not been very 
firm and put his foot down, Elinor would have absented 
herself from the drawing-room of an evening on the 
pretext of having letters to write. But on the one 
occasion on which she tried this. Bride was so hurt that 
she nearly cried ; and Lyall, feeling that strong measures 
were advisable, simply took his refractory sister by 
the shoulders and marched her into the deserted drawing- 
room. 

There you are,” he said triumphantly, and there you 
will remain, if I have to tie you to your chair with the 
curtain-cords ! And now you will please hold your 
tongue, as Bride is going to sing me to sleep.” And Lyall 
threw himself down on the couch. But there was no 
sleep in the deep-set eyes that were gazing so thoughtfully 
into the clear blaze. How could he lose one of those 
deep rich notes that were stirring his heart chords! 
Indeed, Lyall was singing too, a silent Magnificat. 

On Christmas day Mr. Milner and Kathleen dined with 


326 


No Friend Like a Sister 


them, and Frances was there also, and they spent the 
evening singing Christmas carols and telling stories round 
the fire. 

Bride was looking happier than ever that evening. In 
the afternoon she had found courage to ask Lyall a ques- 
tion that had been secretly troubling her. She had come 
into the room and found him alone in the twilight. 

‘‘ Lyall,’’ she said, putting her hand on his shoulder as 
she stood beside him, I have wanted to ask you some- 
thing the last few days. We have talked of everything 
except the future, and I have wondered once or twice at 
your silence.” Then he drew her down beside him. 

'‘And you were too shy to ask me ? But if I have been 
silent, little wife, it is because I have not been able to 
make up my mind.” 

" But, Lyall, surely you are going out somewhere 
as a missionary, and of course you will take me with 
you ? ” Then a strong pressure of his arm answered this 
appeal. 

" Wherever I go, I shall certainly not leave you be- 
hind,” he returned after a moment’s silence; "but I do 
not intend to leave England again.” Then Bride flashed 
one of her quick looks at him. 

"Are you saying this for my sake ? ” she asked anx- 
iously. " Dear Lyall, you promised so faithfully that you 
would never doubt me again. You know I am ready to 
go with you to South Africa or any other place. Of 
course I shall not be much help, but I will do my best.” 
And Bride’s expression was so lovely in its sweet 
humility that Lyall caught her to him with a murmured 
blessing. 

" I know it, darling, and thank God for it every 
moment of my life. But the sacrifice will not be needed. 
There is missionary work to be done in England, and 
room for scores of workers. Do you think. Bride, 
that you could be happy if we had to live among the 
slums ? ” 

" I don’t think slums nice places,” returned Bride, 
wrinkling her forehead, " but one can put up with any- 
thing, and our home can be nice and clean.” Then Lyall 
broke into one of his boyish laughs. 


The Call Has Come 


327 


Nice and clean — I should think so, and comfortable 
too, before I allow my wife to live in it ! Oh, you dear 
child!'’ And then, as Frances entered the room, he 
repeated Bride's naive speech, and they laughed, and 
Bride with them. But all the evening she was like an 
embodied sunbeam at the thought that Lyall meant to 
stay in England. ‘^And what do slums matter," she 
said to herself bravely, '' if one has a nice cosy home as 
a refuge ! " 

On the first Sunday in the new year Lyall and Bride 
went to St. James's, Stepney, to hear Forbes Rutherford 
preach, and afterwards they had luncheon at the Clergy 
House. It was a day of intense happiness to both of 
them, and Lyall felt strengthened in his resolution to find 
mission work in his own country when he found Forbes 
Rutherford entirely approved. 

I think you have decided wisely," were his parting 
words. '' Your wife is ready to follow you to the world's 
end if you will, but the life would not suit her. She is 
one of the little ones of the Kingdom that need tender 
guidance. There, God bless you, and her too ! " And 
some strong feeling dimmed his eyes as he grasped the 
young man's hand. 

A few days after this Lyall, who had gone up to town 
on business, came into the morning-room where Elinor 
and Bride were sitting. There was suppressed excite- 
ment in his manner, and as soon as he had greeted them, 
he put his hands on his wife's shoulders and looked 
straight into her eyes. 

'' Bride," he said slowly, the call has come. I have 
had some work offered me." 

Yes, dear." And then a little timidly, as though 
awed by the solemnity of his manner, Are the slums 
so very dreadful?" Then Lyall gave a low laugh of 
enjoyment. 

Oh, Nora, isn't she delicious 1 No, darling, there are 
slums, of course, but they are not London slums. But 
let me tell you about it. They have just built a new 
mission church in one of the suburbs of Croydon — St. 
Mathias. It is rather a new struggling neighbourhood, 
and one part of it is inhabited by a rough set of people — 


328 


No Friend Like a Sister 


hop-pickers, organ-grinders, even gipsies and pedlars ; but 
there are decent folk mixed up with them — labourers and 
painters and a few factory people. But it is a neglected 
corner of the vineyard, and from all accounts there will be 
work enough to do.’' 

Bride nodded gravely. ‘^Are the houses very dirty, 
Lyall ? ” Then again a smile of amusement crossed his 
face. 

I cannot tell you anything about the inside of the 
houses, for Stanton, the present vicar, only gave me a 
cursory view of the place. We walked through the worst 
street — Fox Lane they call it — and it was not much like 
our London slums — wide street and decent houses, with 
little plots of garden, good air, and plenty of space and 
water.” But his voice changing a little, ‘‘A God-forsaken 
place, I fear — unbaptized men, women, and children, prac- 
tically heathen, and as for morality ” but here Lyall 

said no more on that subject. 

Bride was silent a moment, then she said quietly, If 
the people are not nice, they will want you all the more, 
Lyall.” 

‘‘ Yes, love, you are right. But let me turn to the 
bright side of the picture. Fox Lane and Bradley Green 
are only part of the parish. There are roads full of nice 
little houses, where clerks and small tradesmen and the 
better class artizans live. And I believe there are a few 
houses near St. Mathias inhabited by gentle-people, whose 
means are not large and who have been tempted by the 
low rents.” 

But why is Mr. Stanton giving up the work ? ” asked 
Elinor, who had been hitherto silent. 

'' Oh, that is the sad part. He is such an earnest 
worker, but his wife is very delicate, and one of his chil- 
dren is causing him anxiety, and he thinks it is his duty 
to accept a small living that has been offered him in 
Devonshire. Bride, do you think you could be happy 
there? — I confess that the work appeals to me.” 

Then we will go, Lyall ” — and Bride spoke bravely 
and cheerfully. 

Wait a moment, I have not told you all yet. There 
is no vicarage — I think our first duty will be to build one.” 


The Call Has Come 


329 


Then Bride’s eyes brightened and she clapped her hands 
joyously. 

Oh, Lyall, how delightful — I have always so longed 
to build a house of one’s own! You must get Hugh 
Milner to design the plans. He is so clever, and he has 
such charming ideas about ingle-nooks and gable win- 
dows. If you leave it to him, we shall have a lovely 
vicarage.” 

‘‘ Dear Bride,” returned Lyall, looking at her fondly, 
‘‘ I have quite made up my mind that our new home is to 
be worthy of my wife. We will not be extravagant, but 
within due limits you and Mr. Milner shall have your 
way. And I foresee that you and Elinor will find plenty 
of occupation when the time comes for furnishing St. 
Mathias Vicarage.” 

Bride hugged herself in a silent ecstasy. Fox Lane 
and Bradley Garden were already forgotten. 

“ Will there be a garden ? ” she asked presently. 

‘‘ Yes, indeed, and a tennis lawn ; the site is ready, and 
we can begin building at once. But we shall have to take 
a furnished house pro tern, as near the church as possible. 
Stanton thinks there is one where we can be very com- 
fortable. The people are away just now, but he wants us 
to go down next week and look at it.” 

'' I suppose the stipend is very small ? ” observed 
Elinor. 

‘Wes, indeed, but happily I have a good income of my 
own. If Bride does not object, I thought we might use 
my small stipend in paying the school-mistress and a 
parish nurse and Bible-reader. The nurse is a crying 
need, Stanton says. Does my wife approve ? ” 

“ She approves of everything,” returned Bride, with a 
loving look. “ But there is one thing that you have not 
yet told us — when are we to go, Lyall ? ” 

“ That I can hardly tell you — probably at the end of 
May. Stanton wants to be free as soon as possible for 
his wife’s sake. Well, Bride, it is settled then, and I am 
to be vicar of the little ugly red brick church of St. 
Mathias ? ” 

But Bride’s answer was only a quiet, steady “Yes.” 
But later, when Elinor left them to dress for dinner, she 


330 


No Friend Like a Sister 


crept to her husband's side an the twilight and laid her 
head on his shoulder. 

'‘You are happy, Lyall? — you are sure you are happy 
and satisfied ? " But his answer entirely contented her. 

" Dear," she whispered, nestling closer to him, " all the 
time you were talking, those words were on my lips and 
in my heart, ‘ Whither thou goest, I will go ' — oh, you 
know the rest ! Only help me to be good ; I do so long to 
be fit to share your work." And then Bride shed a few 
tears over her own unworthiness, but they were soon 
kissed away ; and that evening Bride was her enchanting, 
sunny self. 


XLI 


Anothee Surprise 

He who for love has undergone 
The worst that can befall, 

Is happier thousandfold than one 
Who never loved at all. 

A grace within his soul has reigned 
Which nothing else can bring — 

Thank God for all that I have gained 
By that high suffering ! Houghton. 

Matters were speedily settled, and the following week 
Lyall Gresham took his wife and sister down to Croydon 
to inspect the furnished house. 

Both Bride and Elinor owned themselves agreeably 
surprised by the neighbourhood of St. Mathias. It was 
certainly some distance from the town and station, being 
only an outlying suburb ; and St. Mathias itself was rather 
an ugly edifice. But, as Lyall pointed out to them, a good 
deal could be done to improve the inside of the building. 
Everything — ^pulpit, lectern, and altar — were of the cheap- 
est materials, and there had been no attempt to beautify 
or decorate the interior. The hymnals and psalters for 
the choir, and the altar vessels and linen, bore witness to 
the grip of stern poverty. 

We must alter all this by degrees, Bride,’’ observed 
Lyall, as they walked down the aisle together. And as 
he spoke with his old impetuosity, he threw back his head 
and his eyes brightened at the thought of the work that 
lay before him. 

The house proved a success. It was roomy and com- 
fortable, and tolerably well furnished, and there was a 
pleasant garden attached to it, and Lyall decided to take 
it for eighteen months. 

‘^Are you sure that you will be happy here, dearest ? ” 
he asked as he and Bride stood together in the cheerful, 
sunny room which they had already decided should be 

331 


332 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Lyairs study. His tone was a little anxious, but there 
was no hesitation in Bride’s answer. 

'' Lyall, what a question ! Why, 1 love it already. 
Think how delightful it will be to watch our dear vicarage 
being built. And then we have the church to beautify, 
and this nice comfortable home ; and as for slums, oh, you 
bad boy, how could you deceive me so! Slums indeed! 
all these wide streets and really good houses. And then,” 
she continued eagerly, though it is rather far from that 
nice old High Street, well, there are compensations for 
that, for Mrs. Stanton says there are such pleasant coun- 
try walks quite near. Think of that for summer even- 
ings ! ” And then Lyall smiled, well pleased, and his last 
doubt was set at rest. 

That very morning Elinor had received a hurried note 
from Agnes Warburton. She and her cousin had ar- 
rived at Tylcote Hall, and she was anxious to know when 
Elinor intended to return to Meadow Thorpe. I had 
really quite a nice welcome home,” she wrote, and 
mother was as kind as possible. But how long will this 
last, Elinor, when I tell her that I am never going to give 
Hammond up ? ” 

Agnes’s return made Elinor anxious to go back to 
Wildcroft. For more than one reason she longed to be 
there ; but when she suggested that they should go down 
for a week or two, Lyall shook his head and made many 
objections. It would not be convenient for him to leave 
town at present; besides. Meadow Thorpe would be so 
cold.” ^ ■ 

‘‘ What is the use of our being snowed up in that dismal 
hole ? ” he continued. Oh,” as Elinor looked at him in- 
dignantly, I daresay it is pretty enough in summer, but 
in my opinion we are far better off in our present quar- 
ters ” ; and Lyall looked approvingly at the cosy morning- 
room, which was now appropriated to his use. Elinor 
had taken possession of the upstairs sitting-room again, 
and another servant had been added to the household, and 
it could not be denied that they were extremely comforta- 
ble, and that Lyall’s view was quite reasonable. So Elinor 
with her usual tact said no more. 

It was clearly impossible for her to go to Wildcroft 


Another Surprise 


333 


alone, and certainly in the present condition of the weather 
Meadow Thorpe would be hardly a desirable locality. 
Then Kathleen and her brother were staying at Salcott 
Grange, although they were expected back in a few days. 
It would be far better to remain quietly at Grove House. 

Bride had suggested that Agnes should be asked to 
stay with them, and Lyall had cordially seconded this. 

The house is big enough for any number of friends,’’ 
he observed, with that fine masculine carelessness of detail 
peculiar to his sex. 

By the bye. Bride, if we don’t go down to Meadow 
Thorpe until after Easter, I think we shall have to ask 
Milner to come up here for a night or so, to talk over 
plans. I must take him down to St. Mathias to see the 
site.” 

Bride eagerly assented to this, and begged that Lyall 
would write and arrange it as soon as possible. Elinor 
said nothing — perhaps the light was bad, for she moved 
her chair a little closer to the window and busied herself 
with her embroidery — but she heard every word of Lyall’s 
answer. 

He would write direct to Salcott Grange, and ask 
Milner to fix an early date for his visit. I shall tell him 
that he must promise us two nights,” he continued, ‘‘ for 
there will be a lot of business to discuss. I suppose you 
have no objection, Nora?” slightly raising his voice, for 
he would persist in regarding himself and Bride as vis- 
itors to Grove House, and treating Elinor as its mistress. 

No, Elinor had no objections. On the contrary, she 
thought it a very good arrangement, and the letter might 
as well be written at once. And then Elinor folded up 
her work and quietly left the room. But as she sat down 
by her fire, her face was a little pale and there was a 
strange light in her eyes. He would come here, and after 
all these weeks she would see him again ! 

Poor Elinor was doomed to disappointment. Hugh 
Milner wrote by return of post, but in her opinion his 
answer was a little damping. He was bringing his sister 
back to town early the following week, and could place 
Wednesday entirely at Mr. Gresham’s disposal. There 
would be ample time to go down to Croydon and see the 


334 


No Friend Like a Sister 


site, and talk over matters with him and Mr. Stanton, 
and he would still be able to take the last train to Meadow 
Thorpe. ‘‘ Many thanks for your and Mrs. Gresham’s 
kind invitation,” he wrote, but I am sure you will under- 
stand that my one night in town must be spent with my 
father. I will be with you as early as you like on Wednes- 
day morning.” 

When Lyall showed Elinor Hugh’s note, she merely 
remarked that he seemed very busy, and that no doubt 
his father and Kathleen wanted him. And then she 
wished them good-bye, and set off for St. Monica’s Lodge. 
But Frances thought her a little more silent than usual, 
and not quite in her usual spirits. 

As far as Elinor’s pleasure was concerned, Hugh’s visit 
was a complete failure. He arrived punctual to a mo- 
ment, looking well and handsomer than ever, but only a 
word or two passed between him and Elinor. A kind in- 
quiry on her part, how he and Kathleen had enjoyed their 
visit, rather hurriedly answered, and then Lyall took pos- 
session of him and carried him off to the morning-room, 
where they remained for a couple of hours. By and by 
Lyall came up to his sister’s room to say that they were 
going to start at once and would have luncheon with the 
Stantons. Milner will not have time to come back,” he 
observed, for of course he has to catch his train, so you 
may as well go down and bid him good-bye.” And Elinor 
at once rose. 

Hugh was evidently expecting her. 

This is a short visit,” she said quietly. I hoped to 
have heard a good deal about your stay at the Grange, 
and I have not even asked after my old friends.” 

No, I am sorry,” stammered Hugh. He seemed 
somewhat embarrassed at finding himself alone with 
Elinor. They are very well, and Lady Doreen sent her 
love. We had an awfully jolly time, and Kathleen was 
as happy as possible.” Then he stopped and added apolo- 
getically, ‘‘ You see we have only time for business to- 
day.” 

Yes, I see.” Elinor’s manner was gentle and digni- 
fied. Hugh gave her a quick, keen glance. 

Shall you be coming back to Meadow Thorpe ? ” he 
asked rather abruptly. 


Another Surprise 


335 


Some time — oh yes,” with a little laugh ; but Lyall 
wants us to stay here until after Easter, he does not much 
like the idea of the country in winter.” 

‘‘ I daresay you are more comfortable here,” returned 
Hugh, '' but Miss Warburton will miss you.” And then 
Lyall and Bride came into the room, and Lyall said 
quickly that they had only time to catch their train. 

I will say good-bye then,” returned Hugh hurriedly ; 
and as he shook hands with Elinor his face was rather 
white, but Elinor said nothing. 

'' So that is all ! ” she thought, as she sat down to her 
work again, but the dull ache at her heart was almost 
unendurable. Why had he been so distant, so constrained, 
so unlike himself ? and Elinor’s soft eyes were very sad. 

Lyall was full of Hugh’s praises all the evening. He 
was one of the nicest fellows he had ever met, and Stanton 
had been immensely struck with him. 

There is no doubt of his cleverness,” he continued, 
“ and I am pretty well sure he will make his mark. He 
told me that his uncle’s influence would be a great thing 
for him ; that he had introduced him to one of his friends 
who was likely to give him rather a big order. “ I wonder 
if you have ever heard of Sir Richard Mallinger of Mai- 
linger Court?” But Elinor shook her head. Well, 
there has been a fire in the east wing, and the place is so 
badly damaged that Sir Richard has decided to have some 
extensive alterations made. It seems that Milner is likely 
to get the job. And then he is working for that competi- 
tion for the new church that is to be built at West Kens- 
ington.” 

'' I hope he will not work himself to death,” observed 
Bride; but Elinor only looked at her brother silently. 
How could they guess how all this interested her! But 
if only she had heard it from Hugh himself 1 

But Lyall was still talking. '' I don’t think he means 
to stay much longer down there,” he went on ; he says 
he will be obliged to have an office in town if he is to 
undertake all this work, and of course he is right.” Then 
Elinor felt a little twinge of pain. Would life at Meadow 
Thorpe be quite the same when Hugh Milner was no 
longer at Crow Farm? 

22 


336 


No Friend Like a Sister 


A few days after this, Elinor had a great surprise. 
Lyall and Bride had gone down to Croydon for the day, 
and were not expected back until early in the evening. 
Elinor had gone over to St. Monica's Lodge for an hour, 
but had refused to remain for luncheon, and she was sit- 
ting in the drawing-room trying to amuse herself with 
some fancy-work, when Huntley, who had taken upon 
him his old duties as butler, opened the door and an- 
nounced Miss Warburton. 

Elinor uttered an exclamation of delighted surprise. 
'' Oh, Agnes," she said, '' what does this mean ? How 
charming! Lyall and Bride are out and I shall have you 
all to myself." Then Agnes put up her veil with a gentle 
little smile. 

'' I am glad of that, dear," she returned in a low voice, 

for I wanted to talk to you, and I was afraid we might 
be interrupted." 

'' But surely you have not come up to town just to see 
me ? " asked Elinor in rather a perplexed voice, for 
Agnes's manner was a little baffling. She looked well 
and had gained flesh and colour, but there was the old 
worried look in her eyes. 

Oh no," she said quickly, Cousin Beth had to come 
up to see some old friends who are leaving for India, and 
she insisted on my accompanying her. We are at the 
Langham Hotel, Elinor. I was very glad to come, for 
things have been worse than ever at home, and Cousin 
Beth positively refused to leave me behind. Oh, she has 
been so good to me! But I think I had better tell you 
about things from the beginning, and then you will un- 
derstand." Then Elinor relieved her of her furs, and 
placed the glass screen between her and the fire, and then 
she drew up a chair beside her, and Agnes began her 
story. 

'' I told you how kind mother was at first, and for 
two or three days we were very comfortable. Even Gale 
seemed pleased to have me back, but I did not think he 
was looking in his usual spirits. And there was some- 
thing else that troubled me. When I spoke of you, mother 
did not respond, and drew herself up a little stiffly.. Have 
you offended her in any way ? " 


Another Surprise 


337 


Elinor coloured and looked embarrassed. I could not 
call before I left Meadow Thorpe,” she said hesitatingly, 
'' but I wrote to her. Never mind all that, Agnes, I want 
to hear about you and Mr. Keith.” 

Well, three days after our return, mother and Cousin 
Beth went over to have luncheon at Mexfield Rectory, 
and Gale had gone up to town for the day. So I took 
advantage of my solitude to spend two or three hours at 
Crow Farm. I had not yet seen Hammond, and it was 
necessary to talk over our future plans, and I was so 
anxious to see Mrs. Keith. Oh, it was such a lovely time, 
Elinor ! Hammond took me to ‘ The Chimney-Corner.’ It 
is all ready, and furnished so beautifully. Hugh Milner 
had helped him, and everything is so tasteful — but I will 
not dwell on that now. 

Of course I was back at the Hall long before they 
returned from Mexfield. I was working in the drawing- 
room when they came in. But I saw mother look at me a 
little suspiciously, and a few minutes later she asked me 
what I had been doing with myself. I hesitated for a 
moment, though I had meant to tell her, because Cousin 
Beth was in the room. But she did not give me time to 
answer ; her face changed. 

‘‘ " Don’t attempt to deceive me, Agnes,’ she said 
angrily, ‘ you have been at Crow Farm.’ Then I told her 
as calmly as I could that I had no intention of deceiving 
her, and that I had been there for some time. 

'' " Do you hear that, Beth,’ she said passionately — " all 
our pains and trouble thrown away ? ’ Then turning to 
me, ‘ Do you mean to tell me that you are still persisting 
in this disgraceful conduct, and that you refuse to give up 
this man ? ’ 

' Mother,’ I said quite firmly, for somehow Cousin 
Beth’s presence gave me courage, ‘ it is no use speaking 
to me like this. My mind is quite made up. I love Ham- 
mond, and — and we are engaged, and I have promised to 
marry him at Easter.’ I don’t know how I got the words 
out, but Hammond had begged me to say them. And 
then, oh, Elinor, the storm that broke over my unlucky 
head ! ” And Agnes shivered and turned white at the 
mere remembrance. 


338 


No Friend Like a Sister 


Oh, you poor thing — and before your cousin ! ’’ 

‘‘ Yes, it was dreadful. In all my life I have never 
seen mother in such a passion. She was simply beside 
herself, and Cousin Beth was so shocked. She tried to 
stop her once. ‘ You have no right to speak to your 
daughter like that, Teresa,’ she said ; ‘ she is not in the 
nursery or school-room now. Agnes is surely old enough 
to know her own mind, and if she chooses to be a 

fool ’ for, with all her kindness and wish to protect 

me. Cousin Beth thinks I am doing a very mad and risky 
thing. Mother quieted down a little after this, but it was 
only the ominous stillness before another outburst. 

'' ' If you marry this man,’ she said slowly, ‘ I shall 
disown you as a daughter, and I will never willingly speak 
to you again. You are a witness to my words, Beth. 
Agnes must choose between her mother and this yeoman 
lover of hers.’ 

Then for the last time I tried to plead with her. I told 
her that I had given my word to Hammond to marry him, 
and that I could not give him up. And I begged and 
prayed her not to treat me so cruelly. But I might as well 
have tried to soften a block of granite. 

She asked me in an icy tone what plans I had made, 
and I told her quite openly all our arrangements. To 
spare her pain, we had settled to be married in London. 
Mr. Milner had kindly invited me to stay at his house, as 
I had nowhere else to go. Then at the mention of the 
Milners, mother’s lip curled in a disagreeable way. 

‘ I wonder Elinor Gresham did not offer you hospi- 
tality,’ she returned. But I told her that it would place 
you in a very awkward position, and that Kathleen and I 
had already settled things.” 

That was kind of you, Agnes,” observed Elinor grate- 
fully ; but of course I would have helped you.” But 
Agnes shook her head. 

No, it is best as it is. Mother and Gale would never 
have forgiven you, and Kathleen will make me very 
comfortable. Hammond will take a lodging near and 
will go backwards and forwards. Then when mother 
had heard me out, she uttered her final speech. Oh, I 
cannot repeat her words, but it was to this effect — that 


Another Surprise 


339 


the sooner I left Tylcote Hall the better; that I was no 
longer to regard it as my home; that as far as she was 
concerned, I might go the very next day. But Cousin 
Beth would not let her go on. She came up to me and 
begged me to leave the room. ' I will come to you pres- 
ently, Agnes,’ she said, ^ I am just going to talk to your 
mother a little.’ But it was quite an hour before she came 
to my room, and then she looked almost tired out. 

‘ How long shall you take to pack all your belong- 
ings ? ’ she asked abruptly. And as I stared at her, she 
said in her decided way, that this sort of thing could not 
go on ; that it was impossible for me to remain under such 
circumstances. ^ This is Monday,’ she continued, ‘ and I 
have to go up to town on Thursday, and I will not leave 
you here to be bullied into a nervous fever. If you are a 
fool, Agnes, there is no reason why you should be driven 
out of your senses. You will just pack up all your goods 
and chattels, and I will help you. The occupation will do 
us both good, and I will write for another room at the 
Langham.’ And actually she brought me round to her 
opinion, and I wrote a note to Hammond that night. 
Elinor,” and here Agnes’s eyes filled with tears, ^'yester- 
day I left Tylcote Hall, my home for over thirty years, for 
ever, and mother and Gale refused to bid me good-bye.” 

" My dear Agnes ! ” 

"An hour before the carriage was to come round for 
us, mother went across to the Vicarage ; but when Arnold 
was sent with a message from Cousin Beth neither she 
nor Gale was there, and no one knew in which direction 
they were gone. They had started half-an-hour pre- 
viously, and Mrs. Warburton had walked out of the house 
rather quickly, as though she were in a hurry. Cousin 
Beth said nothing, but she looked rather angry. Oh, 
Elinor, one’s own mother, was it not cruel ! ” 

And Agnes cried a little, and Elinor felt inclined to 
keep her company. 

" But it is over now,” she whispered soothingly ; " and 
perhaps, who knows, she will forgive you some day. And, 
after all, there is no crime in marrying a good man.” And 
then after a time Agnes allowed herself to be comforted. 


XLII 


Love the Fulfiller 


When first I saw your face a year ago, 

I knew my Life’s good. 

Browning. 


Now I have tasted her sweet soul to the core — 

All other depths are shallow. 

Keats. 


Agnes’s unexpected arrival in town reconciled Elinor to 
her prolonged stay at Grove House. At the end of a 
week Miss Warburton returned to Tylcote, and Agnes 
gratefully accepted Elinor’s pressing invitation to stay 
with them until it was necessary for her to go to Acacia 
Road. 

Agnes made very simple preparations for her wedding. 
Elinor and Bride both helped her and took an immense 
interest in her purchases. Her modest outfit would have 
surprised her mother. 

The wedding was to take place at an early hour, 
and Agnes intended to wear a dress suitable for travel- 
ling, as they would drive straight from the church to 
the station. They had already decided to go to Devon- 
shire for three weeks before settling down at The Chim- 
ney-Corner.” 

So one sunny April morning a little group of friends 
gathered in the church porch to wish the bridal couple 
God speed. Agnes, who had looked very pale during the 
ceremony, had a soft flush on her cheek as she came 
towards them leaning on her husband’s arm, and Ham- 
mond Keith’s eyes were shining with happiness. 

Mrs. Keith shed a few tears as she embraced her son. 
"'If you are only as good to your wife, lad, as your father 
was to me, she will be a happy woman,” she said to him. 

340 


Love the Fulfiller 


341 


Then Agnes gave her a smile that was almost pathetic 
in its trusting sweetness. 

It had been arranged that Lyall and Hugh Milner 
should go down to Croydon for a few hours, and Bride 
would accompany them, and on their way they would see 
Mrs. Keith into her train. Hugh, who would remain in 
town for the night, had promised to dine at Grove House. 
And perhaps the knowledge of this fact reconciled Elinor 
to her long solitary day. 

Weddings are always unsettling, and Elinor found it a 
little difficult to dispose of her time. She went first to 
Acacia Road and had a chat with Kathleen, and then she 
walked over to St. Monica’s Lodge to give Frances an 
account of the wedding, but she would not remain to 
luncheon. They would probably be back early in the af- 
ternoon, and she wished to be there to receive them. ‘‘ Be^ 
sides, I shall see you to-morrow,” she added hurriedly, 
‘‘ for 3^ou know you are coming to spend the evening.” 
And Frances smiled assent and let her go. 

Elinor ate her solitary luncheon, then she arranged the 
drawing-room flowers and put a few little finishing 
touches to the room. She rather hoped that they would 
come back to tea, and she had told Mrs. Huntley to send 
up a liberal supply of hot cakes. The day had seemed 
endless to her, and she could settle to nothing properly. 
When she took up her book, Hugh Milner’s face seemed 
to rise between her and the page. He had been Hammond 
Keith’s best man, and she had wondered as he stood there 
why his face had looked so pale and rigid, and why in the 
porch he had seemed to avoid her. These thoughts ab- 
sorbed her. Then Huntley came in with the tea-table, 
and she was just going to tell him that she would wait a 
little, when the door-bell rang, and the next moment, to 
her surprise, Hugh Milner entered alone. 

“ Why, where are Bride and Lyall ? ” she asked, as she 
rose to welcome him. 

‘‘Your brother quite forgot an engagement he had 
made,” returned Hugh, “ and he and Mrs. Gresham have 
gone off to Portman Square, but they begged me to assure 
you that they would be back in good time for dinner. I 
hope I shall not be in your way. Miss Gresham, but your 


342 


No Friend Like a Sister 


sister-in-law insisted on my coming/' Hugh's manner 
was a little nervous. Then Elinor gave him a bright 
smile. 

'' I am very glad you have come," she said simply, ‘‘ for 
I was getting tired of my solitude. Now I am going to 
give you some tea, and then I want you to tell me all your 
news about Salcott Grange and Tylcote and your business, 
for I have heard nothing for an age." 

That is a large order," he returned, smiling. But her 
manner had evidently set him at his ease, and they were 
soon talking in the old friendly way. He told her all 
about their visit to the Grange, and Lady Doreen's kind- 
ness to Kathleen. Then a quiet question or two on 
Elinor's part brought a detailed account of his uncle's 
kind introduction, and the new work that was awaiting 
him. I think I have my foot on the first rung of the 
ladder," he said joyously. 

Elinor's face flushed a little. Lyall told us," she said 
rather hesitatingly, that you thought of taking an office 
in town, and that you might possibly leave Tylcote." 
Then his manner changed and he looked at her a little 
strangely. I suppose it will be necessary for your busi- 
ness," she continued timidly, as he did not at once reply. 

‘‘Do you mean about the office? Yes, certainly, it is 
absolutely necessary for me to be in a more central posi- 
tion. Besides, my Tylcote work will soon be finished. 
But I have made up my mind for some time that I have 
been long enough at Crow Farm." 

“ Oh, why ? " she asked, starting a little at his tone. “ I 
thought you were so happy and comfortable there, and all 
your friends will miss you so," and Elinor's voice was 
full of soft regret. 

“ Not more than I shall miss them," returned Hugh 
abruptly. “ You are right. Miss Gresham, I had never 
been so comfortable or happy in my life. Happy ! I was 
living in a fool's paradise ; but it was time that it should 
end and I should come to my senses. No, the thing has 
become impossible; it is better, far better that I should 
go." Hugh's face was very white, and he seemed unable 
to finish his sentence. 

Poor fellow, he was fast losing his self-control. To 


Love the Fulfiller 


343 


be sitting here alone with her in the soft evening light, 
to have that dear voice questioning him, and those lovely 
eyes meeting his with their old kindliness, how was he to 
bear it without disgracing himself and breaking down 
utterly! In vain had he nerved himself for this, the 
ordeal was beyond his strength. 

Elinor did not spare him. She leant forward a little. 

Why is it better for you to go ? ” she asked in a voice 
that was almost pitiless in its sweetness. 

Then Hugh started to his feet. 

Why will you force me to speak ? ’’ he said almost 
roughly. ‘‘ It is not like you ; you are always so kind, so 
thoughtful, you might spare me this 1 ” But her soft eyes 
still appealed to him. 

‘‘ I thought we were friends,” she half-whispered. 

‘‘ No, we are not friends,” he returned in a voice broken 
with strong emotion. “ The thing is impossible, I told 
you so before. I cannot stay at Tylcote, because I can no 
longer trust myself to be near you, because in my madness 
I have dared to love you, and must love you till I die.” 

‘‘Oh, Hugh, I am so glad I ” And Elinor held out her 
hand with a touching smile to the bewildered young man. 
“ But why were you afraid to tell me that? ” Was it her 
look, for he could hardly grasp the sense of her words, but 
the next moment he was kneeling at her feet and both her 
hands were in his. 

“ What does this mean ? ” he gasped. “ Miss Gresham 
— Elinor, is it possible — is it really possible that you could 
care for me enough to marry me? No, don’t speak until 
you are sure — I cannot believe it.” 

“ I am quite sure,” was the quiet answer. And as he 
folded her tenderly and reverently in his arms, Elinor 
rested her face against his shoulder. “ Hugh,” she whis- 
pered softly, “ we have both been unhappy, but it was 
your fault ; you ought not to have been afraid to tell me.” 
But Hugh’s answer to this was a silent one. 


It was long before Hugh regained his calmness — ^be- 
fore he seemed able to realise the extent and solidity of 


344 


No Friend Like a Sister 


his happiness. I thought it was all your kindness/’ he 
kept saying over and over again ; ‘‘ I never believed for 
one moment that you really cared.” 

‘‘That was rather dense of you, dear,” she returned, 
smiling. But some painful recollection seemed to hold 
him. 

'' Do you remember that evening of the Tylcote Hall 
party,” he asked her presently, when you came down in 
your satin gown, looking, oh, so lovely, and I could not 
speak to you? Oh, my darling, I was nearly broken- 
hearted that night.” 

‘‘ I believe it, Hugh, and I was unhappy too. For I 
knew how you felt, and I did so long to comfort you. 
You see,” with a charming smile, I cared for you then, 
though I had no idea that you were Sir Walter Vincent’s 
grandson; and when I saw the little house in Acacia 
Road, I said to myself that your mother was a happy 
woman in spite of her poverty, and that I would do the 
same gladly for the man I loved, and it was you I meant, 
dear.” And then indeed Hugh Milner’s doubts and fears 
were set at rest. 

They were still talking when the door opened rather 
suddenly, and Lyall and Bride came in. It was Lyall who 
grasped the situation, as Hugh started up from his seat 
and Elinor looked up shyly at her brother. 

There was quite a delightful little scene, for Lyall was 
unfeignedly pleased, and as for Bride she fairly cried for 
joy. 

I always knew he had fallen in love with you, and 
so did Frances,” she said, as she followed Elinor to her 
room. Frances won’t be a bit surprised, I am certain 
of that.” 

“What makes you think so?” asked Elinor rather 
abruptly. But Bride had no information to give. She 
did not know — she was not quite sure. Of course it 
might be her fancy, but she had said something at Wild- 
croft and Frances had not responded, but she had looked 
a little queer. Frances was never one to talk about things 
of that kind. “ But, oh, Nora darling,” she exclaimed, 
in her warm-hearted, impulsive way, “ if you only knew 
how glad I am about this ! Hugh is such a dear fellow 


Love the Fulfiller 


345 


and I am so fond of him, and then Lyall thinks so much 
of him. Did you see how his face beamed when you 
told him? ” And it was evident from Bride’s triumphant 
tone that Lyall’s opinion was conclusive. 

And so it was that when Frances went to Grove House 
the next evening in the guilelessness of her heart to spend 
a happy evening in the bosom of her family, she found 
this mine sprung upon her. First, Bride in rather a mys- 
terious voice told her that Elinor was in her room, and 
had desired that she would go to her at once; and then 
on the top of the staircase, a tall bride-like figure in white 
was standing smiling at her. Elinor always looked well 
in white, but Frances glanced a little suspiciously at the 
soft silk. “ If you have a dinner-party,” she said severely, 
I shall go back to St. Monica’s.” But Elinor only 
laughed and drew her into the room. 

There is only one person beside ourselves,” she re- 
turned. But, Frances, how late you are, and I have 
been wanting you so. I have something to tell you, dear- 
est ” — and here Elinor faltered and blushed like a girl in 
her first season. And then Frances knew. 

You need not tell me,” she replied. And then she 
put her hands on Elinor’s shoulders, and her voice was 
not quite as clear as usual. You are engaged to Hugh 
Milner!” 

Yes,” returned Elinor simply, ‘‘ we came to an under- 
standing last evening. Frances dear, I do hope you will 
be glad about this, for we are so happy.” And then she 
flung her arms round the neck of her sister-friend. 

‘‘ God bless you, dearest,” was the answer, and now 
there were tears in the deep-set eyes. “ If only he were 
worthy of you 1 ” Then Elinor looked a little grave. 

‘‘ Oh, Frances, surely you like him? ” For how could 
Elinor guess in her unconscious humility that in Frances’ 
opinion there was no man living who seemed to her 
worthy of this sweet sister. 

‘‘ Oh yes, I like him,” she returned quickly ; ‘‘ he is 
good and straight and has a finer sense of honour than 
most men of his age. Do not be afraid, Nora, I shall be 
able to respect as well as love my new brother. And, 
dearest, I rejoice with all my heart that you will not be 


346 


No Friend Like a Sister 


lonely any longer.” Then Elinor was satisfied, and the 
talk that followed was very precious to both of them. 

Elinor had had a happy day. Hugh had consented to 
remain two more nights in town, and he had turned up at 
Grove House as soon as breakfast was over to carry 
Elinor off to Acacia Road to receive his father’s blessing, 
and then he had brought her back in the afternoon, and 
after tea Bride had accompanied Lyall to the study and 
the lovers were left alone. 

Hugh would have to go back to his work the next day, 
but Elinor told him that Lyall had consented to go down 
to Wildcroft the following week, though it would be im- 
possible for him and Bride to remain more than a fort- 
night ; and,” she added regretfully, I am afraid I must 
go back to Grove House with him, until they leave for 
Croydon. I must help to settle them in comfortably, and 
then I should like a summer at Wildcroft — only Lyall 
thinks I ought not to be alone.” 

“ Then Kathleen must come to you, and we must induce 
Cousin Ada to look after my father ” ; and Hugh spoke 
with the decision and impetuosity of a young lover. 
Elinor was quite willing to be guided by Hugh’s opinion. 
The idea of separation was as distasteful to her as to him 
— to be together, to see each other, if only for a few min- 
utes each day, to have Hugh riding over at all hours, 
that would be delightful ! Of course Kathleen must come 
to her, and in August she would have Frances, and after 
that — well, that could be settled later. 

The gong had sounded before Frances and Elinor en- 
tered the drawing-room. Hugh’s dark eyes glowed when 
he saw his lady-love in her white gown. Frances walked 
up to him with outstretched hands. ‘‘ I hear I am to have 
a new brother,” she said, smiling at him, and I am quite 
sure that you and I will be good friends.” 

‘‘ I hope so,” was Hugh’s answer. And then, as they 
went into the dining-room together, Frances said another 
word or two that made the young man colour with 
pleasure. 

The man whom Elinor loved would be very near to 
Frances’ heart. 

Did you put on that beautiful shiny white gown to 


Love the Fulfiller 


347 


please me ? asked Hugh, when later that evening he 
found himself alone with his beloved. 

‘‘ Yes, of course, Hugh — I shall always dress to please 
you.” But Elinor blushed under Hugh’s ardent gaze. 

You look as you did that night at Wildcroft,” he con- 
tinued, and those are the same pearls. Elinor, have you 
any idea how lovely you are in my eyes ! ” But Elinor 
refused to have anything to say on that subject. Hugh 
loved her and thought well of her, and what could any 
woman want more ! 


XLIII 


Picking up Threads and Finis 

Have I done worthy work? Be love’s the praise 
Set free my love, and see what love can do 
Shown in my life — what work will spring from that ! 

Browning. 

Happiness should be a prayer. — Amiel. 

A FEW days after their arrival at Meadow Thorpe, 
Elinor drove over to Tylcote Hall with her brother and 
Bride. To her great relief Mrs. Warburton was alone. 
She received the young couple very graciously, and ex- 
pressed her regret to Lyall that her son had gone to 
Rugby for the afternoon, but to Elinor she was rather 
cold and distant. Her manner gave Elinor the impression 
that she was in her son’s confidence and that she resented 
her refusal of his offer. She certainly said as little as 
possible to her. Elinor thought her looking worn and 
jaded and far from well, and there were lines round her 
mouth that she had never noticed before. 

Just before they left, Bride said in her pretty, impulsive 
way, I do not believe you have heard our grand piece 
of news, Mrs. Warburton — our dear Elinor’s engagement 
to Hugh Milner?” Then Mrs. Warburton started and 
changed colour. 

'' No indeed,” with rather a steely glance at Elinor’s 
embarrassed face, and I am very, very much surprised.” 
And then she rather stiffly uttered a few conventional 
words of congratulation, which only made Elinor feel 
more uncomfortable. 

I think Mrs. Warburton might have said something 
nice,” observed Bride indignantly, as they drove away; 

she had such a very disagreeable expression on her face 
when she congratulated you.” But Elinor said quietly 
that she was no longer in her good graces. ‘‘ I am 

348 


Picking Up Threads and Finis 349 


Agnes’s friend, not hers/’ she went on ; but in her secret 
heart Elinor blessed Bride for her impulsive speech. She 
will tell her son and then there will be no more trouble,” 
she said to herself. 

The following afternoon Bride coaxed her husband to 
walk over to Sweet Hawes with her, but Elinor, who was 
rather expecting Hugh, preferred to remain at home. 
But she repented of her decision when, a quarter of an 
hour later, she saw Gale Warburton’s tall figure coming 
up the drive. 

It was the first time they had met since that unlucky 
afternoon, and poor Elinor felt both conscious and awk- 
ward. 

I am come to return your brother’s visit,”. he said as 
he took her hand. Then his manner suddenly changed 
and he added abruptly, Is this true what Mrs. Gresham 
told my mother — I mean about your engagement ? ” as 
Elinor only coloured and remained silent. 

Yes, it is true,” she replied in a low voice, I am en- 
gaged to Mr. Milner.” Then, as she raised her eyes, she 
saw a greyish pallor overspread his face. 

Then there is no more to be said — I suppose you are 
the best judge of your own happiness.” His voice was a 
little dry and harsh. Will you tell your brother that I 
am sorry to have missed him again ? ” And then barely 
touching her hand. Gale Warburton took up his hat and 
left the room. 

When Hugh arrived half-an-hour later, he found 
Elinor considerably distressed in mind, but he soon per- 
suaded her to tell him her trouble. 

‘‘ Oh, Hugh, do you really think he cares so much after 
all ? ” she asked rather piteously ; for Elinor was so 
tender-hearted that she hated to inflict pain. 

‘‘ Well, it looks like it, dearest,” he returned reluc- 
tantly. '' He certainly cares in his own way ; but I fancy 
his nature is too phlegmatic and cold-blooded to let him 
suffer as some men would. He will get over it, darling, 
never fear.” 

‘‘ Oh, I hope so — I hope so fervently.” 

‘‘ His work will save him ; he will bury himself in his 
books, and soon forget his disappointment. When his 


350 


No Friend Like a Sister 


mother dies he will look out for some ladylike, sensible 
woman who will marry him and superintend his house- 
hold, and save him worry and discomfort.’’ And, strange 
to say, Hugh Milner’s words came true. 

When the brief visit to Wildcroft was over, Elinor 
went back with Lyall and Bride to Grove House, and a 
busy time ensued ; and as soon as she had seen them com- 
fortably settled in their temporary home, she and Kath- 
leen returned to Meadow Thorpe. A great deal of her 
time was spent at '' The Chimney-Corner.” 

There was no doubt that Agnes Keith was a happy 
woman. Her husband, who idolised her, thought pri- 
vately that she grew younger and prettier every day. 
‘‘ Hammond spoils me dreadfully,” Agnes would say, with 
her low musical laugh. 

The one bitter drop in Agnes’s cup of happiness was 
her mother’s persistent refusal to forgive her. 

Mother cut me in the street this morning,” she said 
once rather tearfully to Elinor. I know she saw me 
coming, for she turned away her head and looked another 
way; and actually Fairy ran to her feet and barked at 
her.” 

And another time she told her friend that she had 
encountered her mother face to face in the drawing-room 
of a mutual acquaintance. But Mrs. Warburton had been 
quite equal to the occasion. She had nodded coolly to her 
daughter. I hope you are well, Agnes ? ” she had 
observed with frigid politeness, as she took her seat by 
her hostess. 

'' I don’t know how I got out of the room,” continued 
poor Agnes. Mrs. Mowbray was so sorry for me ; she 
came and told me so afterwards. Hammond is so angry ; 
he declares I shall never go there again.” 

It was a very happy summer to Elinor, but she enjoyed 
most the month that she and Frances spent together. 

In September there was a general migration. Hugh 
Milner had finished his work at Tylcote, and was to take 
possession of his new office. He had taken rooms near 
Baker Street, where he intended to remain until his mar- 
riage. 

Augusta had just returned from her long wandering. 


Picking Up Threads and Finis 351 

and she gave Elinor a pressing invitation to remain at 
Grove House until the wedding, which was to take place 
early in the new year. 

Augusta’s plans were rather Fabulous, and she was a 
little reticent about her future intentions, but she fully 
agreed with Lyall that Grove House should be sold after 
Elinor’s marriage. 

'' It is a sort of white elephant,” he observed, ‘‘ and we 
had better dispose of it ; and you and Elinor may as well 
divide the furniture between you. The books and pictures 
shall be my share.” 

One afternoon in October Elinor arrived at St. Mon- 
ica’s Lodge brimful of news. 

Do you know that Gussie and Mrs. Oscar Nugent 
are going to Cairo for the winter,” she exclaimed breath- 
lessly, ‘‘ and that in all probability she will not be at our 
wedding ? ” 

“ That seems hardly kind, Nora.” Evidently Frances 
was not pleased with this. 

She does not mean it for unkindness,” returned 
Elinor ; and she really likes Hugh, and they get on so 
well together. But Gussie does so hate weddings — they 
make her quite ill. No — wait a moment,” as Frances was 
about to speak, ‘T have something else to tell you. Lady 
Templeton says that Sir Ralph Peyton is going to winter 
there too.” 

“ Oh, I see daylight,” remarked Frances drily. 

‘‘ He is not well, and Lady Templeton says she is sure 
that his health is breaking down. And then she said 
rather an odd thing. ^ Our dear Augusta is not without 
her faults, but she has one great virtue — she is very faith- 
ful, and when she cares for a person she never changes. 
Perhaps one day she will have her reward.’ Now, what 
could Lady Templeton mean by that? ” 

I think I understand,” returned Frances thoughtfully. 
‘‘If Sir Ralph’s health has broken down, and he can no 
longer lead his present life, he will need a nurse and 
companion, and very probably he will ask Augusta to 
marry him. And if he does, Gussie will not say no.” 

And, as it proved, Frances was a true prophet, and the 
marriage really did take place in the following spring; 
23 


352 


No Friend Like a Sister 


and Lady Peyton was a far happier woman in minister- 
ing to an invalid husband than ever Augusta Gresham had 
been. 

Hugh and Elinor had fixed on a pretty, old-fashioned 
house in old Kensington. It was not large, but it had a 
small garden attached to it, and Elinor had fallen in 
love with it. 

It’s so delightfully cosy,” she said, and I know we 
can make it pretty. And when you are rich, Hugh, you 
shall build me a house with all the latest improvements ; 
but we will wait for that.” 

Lyall’s wedding present almost took Elinor’s breath 
away; for he gave her Wildcroft for her absolute use, 
keeping the farmland the surrounding land in his own 
possession. The house and furniture were to be hers. 

“ Oh, Hugh, isn’t it lovely of him ! ” she said, with 
tears in her eyes. ‘‘ I do so love Meadow Thorpe ; and it 
will be so nice to have a holiday-house where we can go 
down for the week-end and have a breath of country 
air, when my dear boy has overworked himself.” And 
she pushed back the wave of dark hair from his fore- 
head, until Hugh caught the soft hand and pressed it 
to his lips. 

''And it shall be a holiday-house for other people too,” 
she continued presently. " Your father and Kathleen 
shall make use of it when they like, and Frances and 
Bride, and any one who wants rest and change. And I 
shall make it pretty too, for now Gussie has made over 
her share of the furniture at Grove House to me, we shall 
have enough for Wildcroft and St. Olave’s too ” — the 
name of their new house. 

" I really think I have more than my fair share of hap- 
piness,” she said a day or two later to Frances. But the 
latter only smiled in rather an inscrutable fashion. 

Sister Gresham always maintained stoutly that she 
would not have exchanged her own lot with any living 
woman. 

Her work had prospered. She had taken the house 
she coveted on a long lease, and " St. Monica’s Home for 
Nurses ” was inscribed on the brass plate. Edith Holds- 
worth had given up her work at Guy’s and was installed 


Picking Up Threads and Finis 


353 


as matron and head of the Nurses' Home, while St 
Monica's was reserved solely for sick people. 

No one who saw Frances Gresham in her daily life 
could doubt that she was a contented woman. Every- 
thing was going well with her dear ones, she had health, 
strength, a good conscience, and she loved her work. ‘‘To 
me, too, the lines have fallen in pleasant places," she mur- 
mured softly. And then she thought of the rapt and 
wondering expression on Lyall's face when his first-born 
son was laid in his arms, and of the pale mother's speech- 
less happiness. And then her thoughts travelled to 
Elinor's sweet face. “We all have our good things," she 
whispered — “ our precious talents and our sacred gifts. 
May our Heavenly Father help us to use them rightly! 
And there was a deep, unutterable content in Sister 
Gresham's eyes. 


THE END 


l£A.p’U 


THE HOUSEHOLD OF PETER 

By ROSA NOUCHETTE CAREY 


i2mo. Cloth, $1.50 

Perhaps no woman now writing has proven so 
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Perilous’* and The Highway of Fate.” 

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Miss Carey’s latest book is along the 
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by thousands of readers. A spirited 
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J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 


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J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 


HEART OF LYNN 

By MARY STEWART CUTTING 

Illustrated. Cloth, $1.25. 

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J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA. 


AT THE MOORINGS 

By ROSA N. CAREY 
i2mo. Cloth ^ $1-50. 

Another book in the series of Miss Carey’s fine 
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charm. 


ROSABEL 

By ESTHER MILLER 

i2tno. Decorated cloth, $i>2^, 

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i2mo. Frontispiece, Cloth, $1,50 

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THE DASHING NOVEL 

THE 

COLONEL 
OF THE 
RED HUZZARS 

By 

JOHN REED SCOTT 


Stirring adventures, courtly intrigue, and fencing both 
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Illustrationt in Colon by CLARENCE F. UNDERWOOD 
I2mo. Decorated cloth, $ 1.50 


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THE WIFE OF 
THE SECRETARY OF STATE 


By ELLA MIDDLETON TYBOUT 
Author of “ PoKETowN People.** 


Illustrated, 12 mo. Clothe $i- 5 o. 


The story holds one’s interest to the end.** 

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J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 



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